Watch: Adolis Garcia Slams Houston Astros, Closes Out Texas Rangers Game 6 ALCS Victory
Texas Rangers slugger Adolis García went full villain arc — as far as the Houston Astros were concerned — in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday night.
His ninth-inning, grand slam home run gave the Rangers a 9-2 lead and put an exclamation point on a tumultuous 48 hours that saw the right fielder hit a three-game go-ahead home run, get hit by a pitch that set off a benches-clearing melee, received a fine from Major League Baseball and strike out in his first four plate appearances on Sunday night.
García did not have any regrets for what happened in Game 5.
One of those strikeouts in Game 6 just happened to be against Bryan Abreu, the Astros pitcher that drilled him with a fastball in the eighth inning in Game 5 on Friday night.
On Sunday, with the Rangers already up 5-2 in the ninth and with the bases loaded, García faced Astros right-hander Ryne Stanek for the first time and drilled an offering into the Crawford Boxes in left field at Minute Maid Park to put a punctuation mark on the 9-2 victory.
“It certainly helped things out,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “It gave me a chance to take out [Jose] Leclerc. With García, that’s him sometimes. He’s got the ability to put those at-bats behind him. Facing a tough pitcher and got the ball out of the ballpark. Again, it’s about bouncing back and not dwelling on what happened.”
On Thursday, García set off a sellout crowd at Globe Life Field with a sixth-inning, three-run home run off Justin Verlander that gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead. He celebrated after the home run, something Verlander said he took no exception to.
But in the eighth in his next at-bat, Abreu hit García with a pitch. García then turned to Astros catcher Martin Maldonado and the benches cleared, nearly setting off a fifth.
Abreu, García and Astros manager Dusty Baker were ejected. While García and Baker will have to pay a fine, Abreu was suspended for two games. He played on Sunday because he appealed the suspension. That appeal will be heard Monday.
ALCS Results, Schedule (Series tied 3-3)
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
Game 6: Rangers 9, Astros 2
Game 7: Monday at Houston, 7:03 p.m. (Fox)
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
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