Houston would punch its fifth World Series ticket since 2017 with a win tonight
Through five games of the ALCS, the road team has been the winner every time. It’s odd, though not unheard of, for this to happen over a best-of-seven postgame series. One recent time this happened was four years ago, when the Astros-Nationals World Series went to seven games with the road team winning every game. Houston will certainly be hoping that’s different this time, since Game 6 and 7 (if necessary) are in Houston.
After Texas won the first two games of this series, it was looking like they might just roll over the Astros the same way they did to the Rays and then the Orioles. It has not ended up working out that way. They held Houston to four runs combined in the first two games in Houston and then were lit up for 23 runs in the next three games in their home stadium. That’s a tough way to win, and indeed, they lost those home games.
Do you have a rooting interest in this series? I think it’s understandable to go either way. A decent amount of the Houston roster was collected during the time that Mike Elias and Sig Mejdal were there, so if that plan is still paying off five years later, that seems to bode well for the Orioles in the near future.
Preferring Texas to win also makes sense since that makes their beating the Orioles less of an annoyance. Sometimes I root against the team that beat my favorite team out of spite but I did not get that out of the Rangers series. If they lost to the real “team of destiny” then that’s just the way it is. Also, you know, it’s exhausting that Houston could punch a ticket to its fifth World Series appearance since 2017. Give someone else a turn! They’ve made it for the last three odd numbered years starting then and could add another to that tonight.
Or if you’re numb to the outcome here because the Orioles were snuffed out and you can’t bring yourself to care at all, I think that’s understandable too because that’s the way that I actually feel. I haven’t watched much of the postseason games since the O’s were eliminated. My most mild preference is for someone new to win, so that’s Texas, but if they lose tonight I won’t feel too bad for them.
Astros lineup
- Jose Altuve – 2B
- Michael Brantley – LF
- Alex Bregman – 3B
- Yordan Alvarez – DH
- José Abreu – 1B
- Kyle Tucker – RF
- Mauricio Dubón – CF
- Jeremy Peña – SS
- Martín Maldonado – C
Framber Valdez, who didn’t pitch very well against the Rangers in Game 2 of this series, is on the mound for Houston again as they try to clinch.
Rangers lineup
- Marcus Semien – 2B
- Corey Seager – SS
- Robbie Grossman – LF
- Adolis García – RF
- Mitch Garver – DH
- Jonah Heim – C
- Nathaniel Lowe – 1B
- Josh Jung – 3B
- Leody Taveras – CF
Nathan Eovaldi, who has been pretty great in each postseason series so far, gets a second start in this ALCS. His team won the last one.