The 91st playoff match is played at 2-2 at Fenway Park, the third stadium in American history for the number of home games.
The Boston lineup remains unchanged, while in the Astros the rotation of the outside center continues, at the eighth spot, and this time it is the turn of the rookie Siri. On the re-match mountain of race 1, with Sale and Valdez, both went down very early.
Sale starts off pretty well, but grants the HR to Alvarez in the second inning, while Valdez seems reborn, and after 3 innings he is the longest-running starter for the Astros in this series. With 4 perfect innings he becomes the only pitcher in the history of the playoffs at Fenway Park to have done so much.
The match splits in two in the sixth, with Sale still on the mountain, who grants the third valid to Alvarez for 2 RBI. The change of pitcher does not stop the attack of the Astros flying 6-0. Valdez continues his excellent performance, suffering only Devers’ HR in the seventh, and closes with 8 IPs, 93 pitches, 3 hits and one point. 9-1 the final and Astros one step away from the WS, with two home games coming after the rest day.
In race 6 Garcia and Eovaldi meet again. In the first inning Houston scored with a hit from Bregman, brought home by Alvarez with a double that could have been taken quite easily by Kike in outer center. In the fourth, history repeats itself: valid by Bregman and double by Alvarez, but this time with zero out: Eovaldi, however, overcomes himself with 3 K and avoids points. It comes out after 4.1 IP and 63 launches.
Garcia instead launches a gem, with 5.2 IPs without conceding valid, before the triple of Kike that brings Dusty Baker to the immediate change. The Houston bullpen proves unsurpassed, conceding only one valid for the 5-0 victory: offensive heroes Alvarez with a 4 out of 4, and Tucker with a 3-point HR in the eighth that puts an end to the hopes of Boston.
MVP of the series Yordan Alvarez, 12 out of 23, but 9 out of the last 12 appearances at the pot: in the last two games he has beaten more than all the Boston lineup combined! 27 of the 36 points scored in the series occurred with 2 outs, an absolute record for the playoffs. Third pennant in 5 years for Houston.
However, whoever is on the National League team will clearly be favored over the Astros, who despite a great attack, must hope they can recover McCullers in order to have any hope, as Greinke has proven he is no longer a reliable starter.
