Altuve hits go-ahead homer in 9th, Astros take 3-2 lead over Rangers in ALCS after benches clear
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jose Altuve hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning and the Houston Astros, after getting into another bench-clearing scuffle with the Texas Rangers, rallied for a 5-4 victory Friday in a wild and testy Game 5 of the AL Championship Series.
After winning all three matchups at rival Texas, the defending World Series champion Astros head back home to Houston needing one win to capture a third consecutive pennant. They lead 3-2 in the best-of-seven playoff going into Game 6 on Sunday night.
Adolis García punctuated his towering three-run homer in the sixth with a slow trot and an empathic spike of his bat after watching the ball clear the wall to give Texas a 4-2 lead.
When the slugger came to bat again with a runner on first in the eighth, Bryan Abreu hit García on the left arm with a pitch. An angry García immediately turned to get in the face of catcher Martín Maldonado — the two also jawed nose-to-nose when García touched home plate after his grand slam in Houston on July 26.
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Both benches and bullpens cleared, although it didn’t appear any punches were thrown as the teams gathered and grabbed hold of each other near home plate. Once things settled down, García, Abreu and Astros manager Dusty Baker had been ejected.
Rangers closer José Leclerc gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz and walked pinch-hitter Jon Singleton at the bottom of the lineup to begin the Houston ninth. Altuve then pulled an 0-1 changeup over the left-field fence, just beyond the glove of a leaping Evan Carter.
It was the 26th career postseason homer for Altuve, second in major league history behind Manny Ramirez (29). The 5-foot-6 star second baseman was playing in his 101st postseason game — all with the Astros.
García connected off three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, who took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth before Corey Seager doubled, Carter singled and García homered in a span of three pitches.
Nathaniel Lowe also went deep for the wild-card Rangers, tying it 1-all in the fifth.
Alex Bregman homered early for Houston, which is in its seventh straight ALCS and is trying to get to its fifth World Series in that span. The defending champs are 40-45 this year at Minute Maid Park, including 1-3 in the postseason.
But they are 5-0 on the road and have won 19 of their past 22 games away from home overall.
García, the Cuban slugger known as El Bombi, took a couple of slow steps out of the batter’s box after connecting and was about halfway down the baseline when the ball landed in the first row of seats a few feet beyond the left-center wall. It was his fourth homer this postseason.
That go-ahead homer in the 42nd inning of this series was the first time the home team took the lead at any point through the first five games.
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