Houston Astros Manager Baker 'Not Sure' If There Will Emotional Carryover To Game 6

Emotion ran high in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the American League Championship Series between the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers.

For that matter, the ninth inning was an emotional roller-coaster too, with Jose Altuve’s home run lifting the Astros to a 5-4 victory.

It was an emotional high for the Astros and an emotional dive for the Rangers.

Lost amid it all?

Sunday is Game 6 of what could still be a seven-game series to determine who goes to the World Series.

Will there be carryover? Honestly, Astros manager Dusty Baker isn’t sure.

“Man, I don't know,” Baker said on Saturday. “I don't have no crystal ball. I mean, it's going to be what it's going to be. You have to wait and see, just like me. Like we don't script it, it just happens.”

No one would have scripted what happened on Friday in Game 5. A quick review:

Adolis García hits a three-run home run off Astros starter Justin Verlander in the sixth inning, giving the Rangers a 4-2 lead and prompting his own celebration as he ran the bases, something Verlander said he wasn’t offended by;

Astros reliever Bryan Abreu plunks García with a fastball in the eighth inning, prompting García to spin around and confront Astros catcher Martin Maldonado, which led to the benches clearing and a near-brawl;

Abreu, García and Astros manager Dusty Baker were ejected;

Jose Altuve ripped a three-run home run in the ninth inning to give the Astros a 5-4 lead and eventual victory;

Abreu was suspended two games, García and Baker were fined, and two other players — Rangers reliever Matt Bush and Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. — were fined and banned from the benches for the rest of the series.

Why on earth would there be any emotional carryover from that?

“When emotions get high — have you ever gotten in an argument with your mom or your dad or your brothers?” Baker asked. “Mean, it happens. And you don't script it. It's a spontaneous, combustible reaction that gets out of control.”

Framber Valdez, who will start for the Astros in Game 6, doesn’t anticipate carryover on his or the Astros’ part.

“I think our team is built to be able to handle those type of emotions,” Valdez said through an interpreter. “I think they'll be able to calm down, play the game that we know how to play, feel no pressure because of that.”

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, who oversaw an optional workout at Globe Life Field on Saturday before the team left for Houston, doesn’t anticipate issues, either.

“I don't see really any of this happening again, to be honest,” Bochy said. “Now, you're talking about emotions with both teams, or especially ours, yeah, you have an incident like that and then a tough loss.

“But I'll say this about the club. They've been tested all year. You know that. You've been watching. I don't know how many times I've been asked, Are they being tested? And each time they just found a way.”

Semien agreed that the game, in some ways, was a microcosm of the Rangers’ season, especially the past three months in which they’ve been one of the streakiest teams in baseball.

The Rangers won seven straight postseason games before returning home for Game 3 of the ALCS and lost the next three games.

“In terms of the way we've gone on streaks and had cold streaks, and just certain games we thought we had won that we didn't win, we've been through it,” Semien said. “We win two games in the beginning of the series. You get home, you have high expectations to at least pick up one or two. Didn't happen. But that's how this season has gone. So we're excited for the challenge here.”

But the challenge isn’t just the game anymore. It’s containing the emotions that exploded on Friday evening in Arlington and funneling them into a Game 6 in which either the Astros clinch a World Series berth or the Rangers force a Game 7.

And you don’t need a fight to sense that emotion.

“Most of us want to be under control,” Baker said. “Most of us want to play ball. Most don't want to box. But if it comes to that, most of the time you feel terrible after, but during it gets out of control.”

2023 ALCS schedule (FOX/FS1)

Game 1: Rangers 2, Astros 0

Game 2: Rangers 5, Astros 4

Game 3: Astros 8, Rangers 5

Game 4: Astros 10, Rangers 3

Game 5: Astros 5, Rangers 4 (Astros lead series, 3-2)

Game 6: Sunday at Houston, 7:03 p.m. (FS1)

Game 7*: Monday at Houston, 7:03 p.m. (Fox/FS1)

*If necessary