*Photo from TSN*
Houston wins series 4-2
Through thick and thin this season, through all the boos, the Houston Astros remained together. They didn't let it affect them. Now, they have the chance to win it all again. Kyle Tucker homered, Yordan Alvarez hit an RBI double, and the Astros shut out the Boston Red Sox 5-0 on Friday night.
The win is the 3rd straight victory for the Astros, after being down 2-1 in the series after a game 3 loss in Boston. With the win, the Astros have punched their ticket to the 2021 World Series, awaiting the winner of the NLCS between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. It's the 3rd world series appearance for the Astros in the last 5 seasons. The last time they made it, they lost to the Washington Nationals in 7 games.
Astros shortstop Carlos Correa said of the turnaround in the series that "We talked, and we said, ‘We have to play better. This is not good enough.' And we showed up and we showed we can make adjustments on any given day. The pitching staff, they threw strikes, they pounded the zone, they limited the walks, and that was the key for us to win the series."
In the first inning, Alvarez got the party started for the Astros, cranking an RBI double to center field, giving the Astros an early 1-0 lead. They did not score again until the 6th, when Alvarez scored when Tucker grounded into a double play, increasing the lead to 2-0. In the 8th, Tucker provided the knockout punch, blasting a 3 run home run to left field, making it a 5-0 lead for Houston.
Luis Garcia dominated in a winning start for the rookie, improving to 1-1 this series. Garcia allowed just one hit and one walk, while punching out 7 hitters across 5 2/3 innings. Phil Maton finished the 6th inning for Garcia, followed by Kendall Graveman throwing a scoreless 7th inning, Ryne Stanek doing the same in the 8th. Ryan Pressly closed the win out in the 9th.
Pressly talked about getting the last out, saying that "I can't even really explain it, to be honest with you. As soon as I saw Mike camped in left, I looked at Maldy and his eyes got about as big as beach balls. He came running towards me, and I just wanted to give him the biggest hug."
For the Red Sox, Nathan Eovaldi starred in a must win outing, but was hit with the loss because the offense couldn't back him up. Eovaldi allowed one run on 5 hits and one walk, striking out 4 hitters in 4 1/3 innings. Josh Taylor was responsible for one run in 2/3 of an inning, and Tanner Houck and Adam Ottavino were also charged with two runs and one, respectively.
Boston manager Alex Cora talked about being eliminated, saying that "I told them how proud I am. It's an amazing group. It's a group that we will always remember. Not too many teams can say that they're in the League Championship Series. We did an amazing job throughout the season. We just got beat at the end."
Game one of the World Series will take place on Tuesday, with a couple of options available to Dusty Baker to start, such as Jose Urquidy and Framber Valdez. The Red Sox head home for the winter, reporting to spring training in mid February in Fort Myers, FL.
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