Astros’ jets are all firing in stunning comeback
Houston delivers drama in Hollywood, ripping Game 2 out of the Dodgers’ hands
LOS ANGELES You allow two hits through nine innings of playoff baseball on the road and it’s end of story, right?
Not if it’s Game 2 of the World Series, a wildly veering contest that numbers among the most electric, dramatic and entertaining games in the 113-year history of the Fall Classic.
A two-run homer from George Springer in the 11th inning decided it, giving the Houston Astros a 7-6 victory to square the best-of-seven series at 1-1.
And so four hours and 19 minutes after it began, a real-time drama that had Dodger Stadium rocking, reeling, rocking again and ultimately quiet in defeat, it finally ended.
Led by their ace Justin Verlander, the Astros did indeed stifle the Dodgers, holding them to just two hits through nine innings. Trouble was, they were both home runs, leading to a 3-1 Los Angeles lead.
It was at that point the starting gates opened for an exhilarating ride to a photo finish.
The Astros had four home runs on their own in the final three innings, including two in the 10th. Then the Dodgers had their own two-run comeback in the bottom half to only heighten the drama and set the stage for Springer.
It never would have got that far if the Astros didn’t engineer their own gritty rally. Houston scored singletons in each of the eighth and the ninth, a gutsy display considering their difficulty scoring runs on the road this post-season.
That one of them came off of killer Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen only heightened the stakes. Riding that momentum and determined to go back home with a split, the Astros appeared to seize control in the 10th when Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa hit back-to-back solo home runs for a 5-3 lead.
Just like that, Dodger Blue had turned to Dodger blew.
If only it were that easy. A Los Angeles team that had 104 wins in the regular season wasn’t done either, and Yasiel Puig said as much with his bat when he lined a shot over the wall in left-centre to make it 5-4.
Then, when an Enrique Hernandez single drove home Logan Forsythe, it was on to extra extras.
This time it was Springer’s turn to join the hit parade, and he responded with the Astros’ fourth homer in three innings, a two-run smash to put the visitors up by two.
The Dodgers weren’t quite done either, but a solo homer from Charlie Culverson could only get them to within one.
Now it’s back to Houston for games 3, 4 and 5 starting Friday at Minute Maid Park. You get the feeling there will be plenty more to the story.