October magic
After Astros pull wins out of hat against Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers, what’s next?
These are crazy times in Astroland, columnist Brian T. Smith says.
Crazy, special times in Astroland.
Houston’s baseball team already has won two playoff elimination games.
The Astros also scored three runs in the final two innings to beat the Boston Red Sox in the rain at Fenway Park.
And after the Hollywood magic of Game 2 of the World Series — the biggest home runs and victory in franchise history, all in one late-night roar that silenced Dodger Stadium — these Astros are now presented with a clear path to their first world championship.
Did I mention that the next three games of this series are at Minute Maid
Park, where A.J. Hinch’s 2017 club is undefeated in the playoffs?
Or that a team loaded with clutch bats and interchangeable stars — George Springer, Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, Marwin Gonzalez, Alex Bregman … pick your favorite — has shredded three of the best bullpens in baseball in series-changing moments?
Game 4 of the American League Division Series in Boston, when Bregman went over the Monster off Chris Sale, Josh Reddick and Carlos Beltran hit Craig Kimbrel to add their names to the magic list, and the Astros clinched an AL Championship Series spot.
Game 2 of the ALCS, when Altuve and Correa got to New York flamethrower Aroldis Chapman in the ninth, and Minute Maid nearly lost its roof.
And then the instant classic, are you freaking kidding me? Emotional rollercoaster Wednesday night in Los Angeles that we’re still recovering from, when those crazy Astros clubbed four majestic homers in the final three frames to even this World Series at 1-1.
Someone also jumped into the Astros’ bullpen and there was a fire near the stadium. But I don’t want to get too crazy yet.
Strong finishers
If Yasiel Puig — glovethrower, bat-licker and -dropper — catches Bregman’s looping liner in the eighth, the 101-win Astros likely return home in a huge hole against a 104win team.
Game 1 came down to one more big hit for the richest team in MLB. Game 2 began with Vin Scully handing the ball to Fernando Valenzuela, and only ended when one side finally ran out of new heroes.
“There were some homers on their end, too. … A lot of big-time players stepping up and getting big swings,” Hinch said. “I’m just glad the last out, we got to it. This was a hard game to finish, obviously, for both teams.”
But that’s the thing. The franchise that had never won a World Series game has actually finished things in 2017, rewriting its own 56-year history and pushing Houstonians toward a word that far too often has only broken their sporting hearts. Belief. “These are two incredible teams that are going to fight. Seven-game series, you have to win four. We’ve each won one,” Hinch said. “It doesn’t mean it’s going to be over in five, but it could be. That’s the reality of these series. We’re not going to ride the emotion of hot, cold and belief and nonbelief. We’re going to stay believing.”
That’s a good word in Houston in 2017: believing.
And if these Astros are going to pull this off and win the whole thing, the next critical step begins in a revived baseball town.
They’re different here. And I don’t just mean everyone who thunders “MVP! MVP! MVP!” each time Altuve strides toward the plate, or the fact that Minute Maid got so loud in the Game 7 clincher against the Yankees that Orbit had to have its eardrums replaced.
No place like home
The Astros have been World Series-caliber on the road.
At home? It’s pretty darn easy to picture this team hoisting the hardware with all the flags, especially when it plays the way it’s supposed to.
At Minute Maid in the playoffs: 6-0 with a .276 batting average, 10 home runs, .841 OPS and ridiculous 1.17 ERA.
Away: 2-5 while hitting .219 with seven homers, a .654 OPS and unimpressive 6.30 ERA.
Forget the stats and get real: This is where the Astros should make their stand in the 2017 Fall Classic.
The old Astros get tight, screw it up and find some way to allow the Dodgers to fly back to the Best Coast with a 3-2 series lead and two closeout games at a stadium that pounds techno music and pulses “This Is L.A.”
The team that downed Boston, silenced New York and really could beat L.A.?
It keeps the Game 2 magic going in Houston, moving closer and closer to finally winning the World Series.