A fairly boring Game 6 of the ALCS turned into a classic in the ninth inning, and ended with a pennant-clinching home run for the Houston Astros.
In the top of the ninth with the Astros leading 4-2, the Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu hit an opposite field two-run homer off Houston closer Roberto Osuna to keep New York’s season alive. Houston right fielder George Springer almost robbed it.
But the good feelings for the Yankees and their fans only lasted a few minutes. In the bottom of the ninth, Jose Altuve cranked a two-run blast off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman — on a hanging slider — to give the Astros a walk-off, pennant-clinching 6-4 victory.
Absolutely incredible.
The Astros — the 2017 World Series champs — entered the postseason as World Series favorites, and we can see why so far. They’ll certainly have a difficult challenge in the World Series against a rested Washington Nationals squad that features a trio of ace-level arms in Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin. Of course, the Astros have three ace-level arms themselves in Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, and Zack Greinke (though Greinke has struggled in the postseason). Ending the ALCS before Game 7 also allows the Astros to save Cole for Game 1 of the World Series.
Astros-Nats should be a very entertaining World Series, and the seven-game series gets started Tuesday at 8 PM ET in Houston.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.