One inning will mark the beginning of the end to the Houston Astros’ dynasty
The Houston Astros won’t do it, but when the history of their dynastic run is eventually written, or turned into a Netflix documentary, there will be a “the end started here” moment.
It won’t start with a garbage can lid.
It’s more likely to start in the bottom of the fifth inning in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series against the Texas Rangers. The fans at Enron Field were starving for any reason to get into this series, and in particular a game the Astros trailed 4-0 after the first half inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, down by three, Houston loaded the bases with zero outs.
The Rangers were dominating this series until this point, but it’s moments like these where the Astros have crushed souls for seven consecutive years.
Rather than allow a single run, Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi struck out the next two batters, including Jose Altuve, and forced Alex Bregman into a ground out.
“In those situations you try to limit damage,” catcher Jonah Heim said. “It really sucks the air out of the place when you do something like that.”
Said Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, “That was the turning point in the game.”
The Astros still had four more innings, but to not score a run in that situation said everything about the current state of this series, and these two teams.
One is ascending while the other is holding on.
The Rangers defeated the Astros 5-4 on Monday afternoon in Houston and lead the ALCS 2-0. Game 3 is Wednesday evening in Arlington. The Astros have never won a playoff series when they trail 0-2.
The Lone Star Showdown is thus far playing more like the Whataburger Beatdown.
“This is no shock to us,” Heim said.
Pardon the rest of the world that is slightly shocked at these developments.
The Astros played better on the road than at home during the regular season, but there is not a single category of baseball where they are currently out-playing the Rangers. At present, these Astros look demoralized.
They’ve had a few chances to score big on Texas through the first two games, and thus far have a total of four runs.
The Astros have five more games to play with potentially in this ALCS, and established winners don’t often go to sleep without fighting their eye lids, but the Rangers are simply a better team.
“We are two more wins away from going to the World Series,” first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said. “Not winning the division title doesn’t matter. This is really cool.”
Monday’s win is the first time the Rangers won consecutive games in Houston since a three-game sweep from July 27 to 29 of 2018.
The only reason to think this ALCS may flip is the trend that there was no streakier team in 2023 than the Rangers. They could rip off eight to 10-game stretches of brilliant play followed by maddening multiple losses to the Oakland A’s, Royals or some other lesser team.
The Rangers are not that far removed from their August to September stretch where they repeatedly authored new ways to blow games en route to falling out of first place. In that run they were swept at home by these same Astros.
The Rangers are now, however, playing like a team that unintentionally followed MLB’s new secret formula of playing well enough in the regular season before putting it all together in the playoffs for an extended run. Even the worst part of their team, the bullpen, isn’t blowing games.
Not that they don’t make things interesting.
On Monday, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy used reliever Aroldis Chapman for the second consecutive day; statistically, Chapman is awful on a second straight day.
He was in the bottom of the eighth when he served up a batting practice home run pitch to Yordan Alvarez, whose solo home run landed five miles west of Alberta. It was his second home run of the game, and why Chapman threw him a pitch anywhere near the plate will forever be a mystery.
Reliever Jose Leclerc bailed out Chapman by ending an “interesting” eighth with no further damage; he closed out the ninth to improve the Rangers record this postseason to 7-0.
It was only too appropriate that the last hitter of the game was the man who is the face of the dynasty Astros: Altuve. It was only too appropriate that he flied out to left center to end the game.
“I was kinda confused at how the fans reacted,” Leclerc said of Altuve’s fly ball, “because I knew he didn’t hit it that well.”
He didn’t, and while this series is not over Houston’s dynasty is starting to feel like it is.
This story was originally published October 16, 2023 at 6:45 PM.
