Adolis Garcia Homer Gives Texas Rangers First Lead Over Houston Astros in ALCS Game 5
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Texas Rangers finally have a lead at home.
Thanks to Adolis García.
The All-Star slugging right fielder drilled the first pitch he saw from Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander into the left-field seats for a three-run homer give the Rangers a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning Friday.
Not only was it the first lead for Texas since the American League Championship Series shifted to Arlington for Game 3 on Wednesday, it was the first time in all five games that the home team held an advantage.
Houston lost the first two games of the best-of-seven series at Minute Maid Park without ever playing from out front. The Rangers were never up in dropping Games 3 and 4 over the previous two nights.
Never before in MLB history had four games been played in a championship series without the home team leading. It also set a postseason record of 41 consecutive innings without the home team being up, according to Elias.
García changed all that win one swing against Verlander, who had largely been cruising to that point. The 396-foot blast off a 95-mph fastball scored Corey Seager and Evan Carter, erasing a 2-1 Houston lead.
It also spelled the end of the game for Verlander, who was pulled in favor of reliever Hector Neris.
The Rangers had finally gotten to Verlander in the fifth inning when Nathaniel Lowe, hitting seventh in a reshuffled order, sliced an opposite-field solo homer.
The 380-foot shot into the short porch in left field tied the game at 1-1. It also gave the Rangers a much-needed shot in the arm after getting dominated by Verlander for four innings.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner had only allowed one hit going into the fifth. The Rangers had a scoring chance in the third with Mitch Garver at third base with one out, but Verlander got Marcus Semien and Corey Seager – the top two hitters in the Texas lineup – to fly out and end the threat scoreless.
The Rangers and Astros came into the fifth game of the best-of-seven series tied 2-2. Texas won the first two games in Houston before the Astros did the same the previous two nights at Globe Life Field.
The series shifts to Minute Maid Park in Houston for Game 6 on Sunday. The Rangers will be starting Nathan Eovaldi, while the Astros are going with Framber Valdez in a rematch of Game 2. Game 7, if necessary, is Monday.
The winner of Game 5 in a best-of-seven series tied 2-2 goes on to claim the series 71% of the time in MLB history.
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