Seventh Heaven! Texas Rangers Hold On, Blast Houston Astros To Force ALCS Game 7

Adolis Garcia hit a grand slam during a five-run ninth inning as the Texas Rangers won Game 6 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros.

HOUSTON — The Texas Rangers have been able to lean on their defense all season and it came up huge in an elimination game Sunday night at Minute Maid Park.

With a runner on first and one out and the Rangers clinging to a one-run lead in the seventh inning, Marcus Semien lunged quickly to his left and fielded Michael Brantley's grounder.

Semien spun around towards second base and zipped the relay to Corey Seager, who fired back to first where Nathaniel Lowe made the stretch and picked it off the dirt for an inning-ending double-play to preserve the lead.

The Rangers bullpen took over from a heroic start by Nathan Eovaldi to record the final eight outs as Texas beat the Houston Astros 9-2 in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.

The Rangers responded after a gut-punch Game 5 loss to force a winner-take-all Game 7 at 7:07 p.m. Monday at Minute Maid Park.

"They came into our place and took it to us for three straight games and for us to be able to turn the page, have that off day, recharge, get back to going the way we know we’re able to play to come out tonight and play really well,” Eovaldi said. “It was a close game. Tomorrow we have to come in ready to go.”

Mitch Garver's opposite-field homer to right field in the second tied it at 1-1. Jonah Heim's two-run opposite-field homer to right gave Texas a 3-1 lead in the fourth. Garver singled with two outs ahead of Heim.

"I was blowing it just like everyone else," said Heim, surprised it went out. "I was just looking for something up in the zone and put the barrel on it."

The Astros struck first with a first-inning lead after Jose Altuve led off with a single, stole second, and scored on Yordan Alvarez's single to right.

Houston added a run to pull within 3-2 in the sixth after Alvarez led off with a single and later scored on Mauricio Dubon's sacrifice fly.

Nathan Eovaldi held the Astros to two runs on five hits and three walks over 6 1/3 innings. Altuve's one-out bloop single in the seventh was his 88th pitch. Manager Bruce Bochy brought in Josh Sborz to face the heart of the Astros' lineup in Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman, and if necessary, Alvarez.

Astros starter Framber Valdez allowed three runs on five hits and two walks and struck out six in five innings.

Garver was 3-for-4 with two RBI, two runs scored, a homer, and an eighth-inning double to the left-field corner that scored Evan Carter from second base to give Texas a 4-2 lead. 

Texas blew it open with a five-run ninth, including a grand slam by Adolis Garcia. 

The first four Rangers batters reached, including a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch on Corey Seager that pushed Texas' lead to 5-2. After Evan Carter struck out, Garcia, who had struck out for times in the game, connected on a 97 mph fastball out of the heart of the plate and sent into the Crawford Boxes above left field. 

ALCS Game 6: Rangers 9, Astros 2

Here are the key takeaways from Game 6 Sunday night at Minute Maid Park:

Bullpen Comes Through

Josh Sborz entered with one out and a runner at first in the seventh and induced a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play from Michael Brantley.

Sborz went back out in the eighth and walked leadoff hitter Alex Bregman before striking out Yordan Alvarez. Jose Abreu singled to left field to put two on with one out. Bruce Bochy called on Jose Leclerc to presumably get a five-out save if Aroldis Chapman wasn't used in the ninth.

Leclerc walked Kyle Tucker to load the bases before getting Mauricio Dubon to line out softly to shortstop. That set up a mammoth confrontation with pinch-hitter Jon Singleton, hitting for Jeremy Pena. Leclerc got ahead 1-2 but Singleton worked the count full before fouling off two pitches. Leclerc finally got him swinging at 92-mph cutter up and just out of the strike zone.

Semien Impossible

Marcus Semien has started all 173 Rangers games this season, including 162 in the regular season and 11 postseason games. The only players to start all of their team's 172 or more games in a season (and postseason) in the field since 2000 are:

• OF Hideki Matsui (173 G for 2004 NYY)
• SS Alcides Escobar (177 G for 2014 KC)

According to Elias Sports Bureau, Semien is the first player in MLB history to start all of his team’s 173 games at second base in a season.

Minute Maid Park Winning Streak

The Rangers had won three consecutive games at Minute Maid Park entering Sunday's Game 6. That stretch includes wins in Games 1 and 2 and their last regular-season game in Houston. Texas needs to win five in a row at MMP to reach the World Series. The last time the Rangers won five consecutive games at MMP was during a 10-0 stretch from April 2, 2013, and May 12, 2014. That was when the Astros were rebuilding and losing 100 games every season.

Up Next

It's a rematch of Game 3 with Rangers right-hander Max Scherzer facing Astros right-hander Cristian Javier for a winner-take-all Game 7 at 7:07 p.m. Monday at Minute Maid Park. 

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