Alpha & omega
Springer, Correa homer on Game 5’s first and last pitches, respectively, to extend ALCS
Springer, Correa are first to hit homers on first and last pitch of playoff game.
In their 61st playoff game together as Astros teammates. George Springer was the alpha and Carlos Correa the omega of a power showthat has no parallel in postseason baseball history.
Springer drove the first pitch fromRays starter John Curtiss 406 feet to left field for a leadoff home run Thursday, and Correa closed it out in the bottomof the ninth by launching a 416-foot blast off reliever Nick Anderson that carried the Astros to a 4-3 victory in Game 5 of the American League Championship Seres, enabling them to return Friday to Petco Park in San Diego for Game 6.
It was the first instance of firstpitch and last-pitch homers in playoff annals, and it alsohadindividual significance for both players. For Springer, his 19th career playoff homer moves him into a tie for fourth place in that category with Albert Pujols. Correa now is one of just three players with two career walk-off home runs in postseason play.
Springer’s home run was instant gratification, coming on the first pitch of the game. Correa’s was more measured. First he planned it, with the help of hitting coachAlexCintron. Thenheimagined it. Then he promised it. And then he delivered.
“I was visualizing the pitch I wanted, and I was visualizing what I wanted to do with that pitch,” Correa said. “It’s surreal, man. You just react and enjoy the moment and try to celebrate with your teammates.”
At the center of the celebration was a long embrace with Astros manager Dusty Baker, who said Correa promised him before he went to the plate against Anderson that he would end the game with a homer.
“I toldhimbefore going out that Iwas going todoit,” Correa said. “I did it, and he gave me a hug. We didn’t want to let go.”
Correa’s 17th playoff home run, joining hiswalkoff against theYankees in Game 2 of the 2019 ALCS, was a product ofwhat Correa said was a midgame adjustment with Cintron.
“After my second at-bat, Cintron called me in and told me a couple of things in the cage that made my swing feel great,” he said. “My first two at-batswere not good. I felt a little bit disconnected. He toldmewhat to do andhow to stand at the plate.”
Using the new approach, Correa lined out in the seventh but hit the ball sharply. He said he and Cintron returned to the batting cage for another round of swings before his next at-bat in the ninth.
“I saw ( Jose) Altuve walking off the field and said, ‘I’m gonna end it. I could feelmy swingwas good.
I could feelmy rhythmwas good.”
That being said, Correa acknowledged the improbability of it all, the ability to produce in a fashion that, as reliever Ryan Pressly said, “is kind of majestic, to be honest with you.”
“When you have the plan is one thing,” Correa said. “When it works out, that’s a whole new different story.”
While technology might have helped generate Correa’s home run, Baker opted togive thepower
of prayer some credit, too.
“Carlos told me, ‘Walk-off,’ and I said, ‘Go ahead on, man.’ And then I said a prayer and said, ‘Please, Lord, let us walk off, because if we don’t, we have to use Framber (Valdez)’ (in relief rather than as a Game 6 starter).”
Correa’s homer, however, had the Astros in position to win only because of Springer’s leadoff home run. Altuve has 18, and now Correa has 17 in their memorable run at the topof theAstros’ lineup.
“We know how special George Springer is. He’s not a typical leadoff hitter,” said outfielder Michael Brantley. “We knowhe can hit the ball out of the ballpark on any given swing. To set the tone to give us the lead early is always a big relief.”
Among thewitnesses to Springer’s and Correa’s exploits was Astros third-base coach Gary Pettis, who watched with team officials from an upstairs suite. Pettis has not been with the team since being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a disease of the blood’s plasma cells.
Along with Correa, the other Astroswalkoff homers in the playoffswerehit byAlan Ashby against the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 1981 National LeagueWest Division Series, JeffKent against the Cardinals in Game 5 of the 2004 National League Championship Series, Chris Burke against the Braves in Game 4 of the 2004 NL Division
Series, andAltuve against the Yankees in Game 6 of the 2019 ALCS.
With theGame5 win, theAstros are halfway to a comeback from an0-3 deficit in theALCS. Only the 2004 Red Sox have overcome such a deficit, and Correa said he watched an ESPN documentary about that team with Alex Bregman onWednesday night.
“We still have a longway to go,” Correa said. “We have a great team on the other side, but we have got to find ways to win. We were able to do it the last two games, and we have to do two more.”