Jenny Dial Creech
Putting all the little things together proves to be a big deal in helping the Astros get their mojo back.
Alex Bregman changed his walk-up song Friday night.
He has mixed it up all year, but there was a clear message with his new choice.
Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” played as the third baseman headed up to bat each time. The song had deeper meaning for him and for his team as they hosted the New York Yankees in Game 6 of the ALCS.
Before the Astros took the field Friday night, there was a feeling. They weren’t done yet. Facing elimination on their home field, the Astros had ace Justin Verlander on the mound, the lineup that put together hit after hit all season and a ballpark full of screaming, hopeful
fans wanting to see their team stay alive.
When the Astros needed big moments Friday, they got them.
Timely hits, excellent pitching, stellar defensive plays.
It all came together and the Astros won the game 7-1 and live to play another day. It all comes down to Game 7. The Astros. The Yankees. Saturday night at Minute Maid Park.
It doesn’t get much better than this.
“We can’t wait,” Bregman said. “We didn’t give up, and we pulled together tonight.
“Tomorrow is going to be awesome.”
One hit begets another
After a trio of Big Apple struggles, the Astros found their mojo again.
Big moment after big moment on Friday night propelled the home team back from three disappointing losses in New York in which the Astros didn’t look like themselves at times.
It took a few innings to get there Friday night.
Pretty much every player in the lineup was due for a hit.
The bottom of the lineup heated up.
After Bregman and Evan Gattis drew walks, Brian McCann — the ninth batter — blasted a ground-rule double to put on a run on the scoreboard in the fifth inning.
Then George Springer walked. Jose Altuve rounded it all out with his MVP moment of the game — a two-run single to put the Astros up 3-0.
In the seventh inning, the Yankees threatened a comeback.
Greg Bird walked and Starlin Castro was hit by a pitch. Todd Frazier got a healthy piece of a Verlander fastball. The ball soared deep into center field and as fans in Minute Maid Park collectively held their breath, Springer leapt up and made the catch of the game, and maybe even the series.
The jaw-dropping play definitely saved a run or two and kept the Yankees off the board.
In the next inning, Marwin Gonzalez made an exceptional catch to keep Brett Gardner off base.
The play ended up being extremely important as Aaron Judge blasted a home run in the eighth inning with no one on base.
The Astros went on to erupt in the bottom of the eighth, scoring four runs.
‘It felt like us again’
They looked much more like the team that had the best offense in the regular season than they have in this series. Hits haven’t come easy, but once the Astros started hitting, it was contagious. Carlos Correa, Altuve, Bregman, Yuli Gurriel and McCann all got hits.
“It felt like us again,” Bregman said.
Things aren’t perfect as the Astros head into Game 7. While their bats heated up after days of being cold, they still aren’t getting production from everyone in the lineup.
Springer is 2-of-22 in his atbats this series and Josh Reddick is 0-for-21. Verlander was exceptional but after he and Keuchel, the Astros’ pitching has created a lot of questions in this series. Charlie Morton, who lost Game 3 after allowing six hits and seven runs, will start.
Still, the Astros are confident. They are at home. They have a lot of fight in them.
They have the tools to win and to advance to the World Series.
“I don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow,” Altuve said. “But I know that me and my team, we are going to give everything we have on the field.” Now they have to execute. The Yankees aren’t going down without a fight as evidenced in the ALDS when they won three in a row, including Game 5 in Cleveland, to advance to face the Astros.
New York’s pitching has troubled the Astros this series.
The Astros are going to have to bring their best to the table.
They are going to have to do all the things that led them to a 101-win regular season.
It’s all for the taking
Those are the things that also got them home-field advantage, which has been a huge deal in the ALCS.
“For us to get to Game 7, I’m glad we played well enough to have home field,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s going to be here in Houston.
“And as much talk in this series if we go up 2-0, the series is in our hands; we go to New York, they win three, the series is in their hands. It’s all adjusted. We get to a Game 7, and by the way, it’s in Houston.”
The feeling is still lingering in Minute Maid Park.
A trip to the World Series is at stake. The lofty goals the Astros set in the beginning of the season are in reach. They have another day, another game to get the job done.
The Astros aren’t done yet.