ARLINGTON, Texas — There had been a pre-ALCS attempt to raise the Lone Star showdown into a rivalry befitting the Red Sox-Yankees or Cubs-Cardinals — despite far less history and hostility.
Forty-four innings into the series, we finally saw hatred, fireworks and ejections.
And then we saw something else way more familiar: the Astros and Jose Altuve rising to the moment and to the brink of another AL pennant with a 5-4 victory in Game 5 on Friday.
Adolis Garcia had hit a three-run homer off Justin Verlander with one out in the sixth inning to push the Rangers ahead 4-2.
He slow-walked the initial steps to first base, tracking the high arc of his drive to left. He wolfed it up in the general direction of his dugout and slammed his bat to the ground.
The next time he came to bat was with a runner on and no out in the eighth inning. Houston reliever Bryan Abreu buried the first pitch into Garcia’s left rib cage. Abreu spun to get into the face of catcher Martin Maldonado. That spurred both benches and bullpens to empty and angrily congregate near home plate. There was jostling, but no obvious punches landed.
The umpires conferred as the pile broke up and decided to eject Abreu, which infuriated Dusty Baker. The Astros manager slammed his hat to the ground and also was ejected — and still had not left the dugout 10-ish minutes later when play was about to restart. When the umps approached Houston’s dugout, Baker spewed another tirade before leaving.
Garcia also was ejected.
The crowd of more than 41,000 was in a froth with the Rangers three outs away from taking a 3-2 lead in the series and moving one win away from their first pennant since 2011.
But the Astros have an incredible chin. They are not accidental champions.
Rangers closer Jose Leclerc, so brilliant in the postseason up to this point, allowed a single to pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz leading off the ninth, then walked pinch-hitter Jon Singleton.
That brought up Altuve, who was the offensive catalyst as the Astros won Games 3 and 4 at Globe Life Field after they had lost the first two games at home.
Altuve launched his 26th homer in 101 playoff games just beyond the leaping try of left fielder Evan Carter. The Astros flew out of their dugout to celebrate, fueled, yes, by the obvious that the game had turned yet again on a swing by Altuve, but also because of the heat intensified by the benches-clearing incident.
The ALCS, after an off-day Saturday, will now switch back to Houston — where Garcia can expect to be Public Enemy No. 1 — for Game 6 and, if necessary, Game 7. The Astros are one win away from reaching their fifth World Series in seven years as they try to become the first repeat champion since the three-peat Yankees of 1998-2000.
No home team has yet won through five games of this series and the Astros are now 9-1 at Globe Life this year.
For more than half the game, Verlander was the dominant presence — until he wilted in the sixth.
Verlander, who had surrendered two runs in 6 ²/₃ innings in the series opener in which Jordan Montgomery fronted a Texas shutout, had blanked the Rangers until Nathaniel Lowe homered with one out in the fifth to tie the score at 1-1.
Houston put up the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth when Corey Seager botched what could have been an inning-ending double-play ball. Through one out in the bottom of the sixth, Verlander had permitted just two hits. But then Seager doubled, Evan Carter singled and Garcia walloped the three-run homer.
After Altuve’s homer, the Rangers put the first two runners on in the ninth. But Ryan Pressly held on for the victory. He is part of the unflappable, resilient champion Astros, who showed yet again how much fight they have in them.
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