HOUSTON – Good pitching and even better game planning. An all-powerful attack with a timely strike. An old-school manager who knows a thing or two about what strings to pull in Game 7. Oh, and a heavyweight weapon in Adolis García. Here’s how to kill the defending champion dragon.
This is how the Texas Rangers go to the World Series.
“These types of games, when there are a lot of emotions, the fans out there rooting for their team, that’s what drives me,” García said. “It’s the motivation that helps me play.”
García, making the playoffs for the first time in his career, couldn’t be more comfortable this October – especially at Minute Maid Park. His two-home run, four-hit, five-RBI performance fueled the Rangers’ 11-4 victory over the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Monday.
Yes, García won the ALCS MVP award and deserved every vote. By the time his second home run of the night sailed 340 feet into the Crawford Boxes, the home fans had completely deserted the building. The only rowdy fans left wore blue, white and red. “Let’s go, Rangers!” The chants grew louder and more frequent as the Astros sank into the night. Still, it wasn’t enough. García put a hand to his ear as he reached third, wanting more from the Texas fans.
“If you wake up Adolis,” Rangers catcher Jonah Heim warned, “you better be careful.”
Especially since the All-Star bat isn’t ready yet. García has already hit seven home runs this postseason and just set an MLB record for a playoff series with his 15 RBIs in the ALCS.
“He’s a bad man, isn’t he?” said superstar shortstop Corey Seager, who might as well have been talking about himself after going 3-for-5 and starting the party with a home run on Monday. “Coming into that atmosphere, being booed every time he hit the ball and doing what he did was really special. He was really fun to watch.”
The Rangers now await the winner of the National League Championship Series between the Diamondbacks and Phillies. No matter which team wins Game 7 on Tuesday, the World Series begins Friday night in Arlington at Globe Life Field.
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To give an idea of how caught up the Rangers were in Game 7, even as they engineered a blowout, the players were still emotionless and focused in the Rangers dugout. This concentration came from skipper Bruce Bochy, who never took his finger off the pulse. Yet Bochy has never lost a Game 7 on six occasions. Players tend to feed off their manager’s philosophy, and Bochy’s experience allowed him to remain calm and in control as Texas continued to push forward. It was hard to find anyone other than García, always the good mood man and entertainer, cheering early on the bench. No, the Rangers waited until the final to do that.
After closer José Leclerc secured the final pass and fell to his knees, a sea of blue-clad players rushed onto the pitch and huddled in a heap on the mound. Later, Rangers owner Ray Davis and general manager Chris Young hoisted their ALCS trophy on the centerfield stage structure. They waited for All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien, who celebrated with his children by his side, before taking the official AL pennant team photo. As the cameras stopped clicking, one player shouted, “Let’s go celebrate!”
And then it was time for the champagne.
The smell of cigar smoke and champagne wafted through the hallways of Minute Maid’s host clubhouse. The locker room floor was soaked with various puddles of Coors Light and carbonated spirits. First, the team harmonized and sang along to Creed’s “Higher.” Then the reggaetón-influenced song “Pepas” by Puerto Rican singer Farruko blared from the speakers.
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In the middle of the room stood Semien, red-eyed and grinning, holding court with a crowd of questioning reporters as teammates came by to pour several bottles of beer onto his already soaked cap. Most of his answers focused on the man of the hour.
Is Adolis García the most confident player Semien has ever met?
“I think so,” Semien said. “He’s got the swag. It’s just great for young players to watch him and how he plays with so much confidence to lift everyone else up. I think a lot of young players could learn from this guy.”
These Rangers, now 9-3 in the playoffs after giving away the AL West title to the Astros on the final day of the regular season, weren’t doing anything stupid. Seager, playing in Game 7 of his third career, put his bat on the board in just the fourth pitch of the night. Texas stormed out to a 3-0 lead and knocked Astros starter Cristian Javier out of the game in the first inning. In the fourth round, the lineup completed four more runs. That provided enough cushion to compensate for a short start from Max Scherzer.
The three-time Cy Young winner escaped a jam in the first inning with a huge double-play ball reminiscent of the old Mad Max. After allowing a solo home run to Alex Bregman and a triple to Yordan Álvarez in the third, Scherzer caused a groundout that prevented the latter from scoring. The aging, battered right-hander lasted just 2.2 innings, but left three runners in scoring position when the game was still close. Four Texas arms then combined for 6.1 innings of relief, allowing just two inconsequential runs.
“I’m just a good soldier,” said Scherzer, who joined the Rangers in a deadline deal with the Mets. “Whatever button [Bochy] I’m ready for it because this is the moment we’re playing for.”
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The Astros players already looked dejected at the start of the fourth period. The crowd’s energy — no more orange towels in the air and no murmurs from the same fans who had booed García earlier in the night — matched the mood on the field.
Sure, they still had 18 outs to work with. They still had plenty of time for a comeback and their deficit of six runs was not insurmountable. But that’s exactly what was written on the scoreboard. Throw in the context of how Houston fell behind (and where it was playing), and Game 7 appeared to be over when Jordan Montgomery took over for Scherzer in the third inning. While the Rangers increased their lead, Montgomery maintained it with 2.1 scoreless innings, earning his third win of the postseason.
“To win it the way they won it just shows the great determination they had to achieve this,” Bochy said of his club’s Game 7 defeat.
The end result was a surprise. The result was not. The Astros’ season problem, Minute Maid Park, reached its peak in the postseason. They couldn’t consistently score or win at home. Thanks to their Orange fan base, they won just 40 of 87 possible chances here, including 0-4 in an ALCS in which neither team won a home game. Surprisingly, the Rangers benefited from the fact that they had no home advantage.
Houston had the third-best road record in baseball and escaped all the way to the penultimate round, five wins shy of repeating as champions. The five consecutive home losses in a postseason are an MLB first. The Rangers are also in the middle of history Eight-game road winning streak, equaling the Yankees’ record set in 1996. More importantly, the 63-year-old franchise is making its third World Series appearance and is still searching for its first title.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Heim said. “It’s probably the greatest joy I’ve ever felt other than having my child and getting married.”
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Game 7 seemed doomed for the Astros when Javier exited in the first inning. October’s standout, who had been so dominant on the road since last year’s playoffs, fell at home on Monday. Javier recorded one out before Dusty Baker strolled out of the dugout and dragged him. His disastrous outing consisted of 23 pitches and one out. Asking the bullpen to record the other 26 is a monumental task, and it ultimately proved too much for Baker to juggle.
With Houston still trailing just 4-2, their revered skipper was out far too long on JP France, his fourth arm in Game 7. The rookie scored four runs on five hits and recorded two outs. Worse, he was used over more experienced, high-leverage options like Hector Neris and Bryan Abreu.
“We just got beaten,” said Baker, 74, who reportedly plans to retire but said after the loss he would need some time to decide his future. “Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason. Sometimes you lose and sometimes you get beaten. There is a difference. We were beaten.”
But those will be just footnotes in Game 7, which, much like Game 6, showed why Texas has the best offense in baseball — and perhaps the best team, too.
Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. Deesha, the daughter of Indian immigrants, grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.