Braves, Astros ride power surges
Atlanta rallies to win its NLDS opener, and Springer homers twice as Houston takes a 2- 0 ALDS lead.
Back- to- back home runs off back- to- back pitches. The Houston Astros can’t miss these days.
George Springer hit two homers as Houston kept making more noise in the playoffs, beating the Oakland Athletics 5- 2 on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium to take a 2- 0 lead in their American League Division Series.
Martin Maldonado also went deep for Houston, which needs one win to reach its fourth consecutive AL Championship Series. Game 3 in the best- of- five series is Wednesday.
“With every victory, the energy and the confidence grows,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said.
Springer put Houston ahead to stay with a two- run, two- out drive in the third.
“You don’t know if you’re ever going to get back here, so the times you’re here you might as well try and have fun,” Springer said.
Houston went back- to- back in the fifth, extending the lead to 5- 2.
Maldonado’s solo shot chased losing pitcher Sean Manaea in his f irst appearance this postseason. Yusmeiro Petit came in, and Springer connected for his second homer of the game. Maldonado yelled and raised his right arm in celebration from his dugout seat.
“Just a couple bad pitches,” Manaea said. “I know we are going to figure this thing out.”
Springer’s 17 postseason homers tied Nelson Cruz and Jim Thome for most through a player’s first 54 career playoff games. Five of Springer’s postseason homers have come at Dodger Stadium, where the Astros beat the Dodgers in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series.
Houston improved to 7- 3 at Dodger Stadium since that World Series. Current A’s pitcher Mike Fiers last year told of his old team’s sign- stealing scandal used in 2017, a revelation that rocked baseball.
The scandal led to season- long suspensions of Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch, who were fired.
“This is a team that believes in one another and sticks together,” Springer said.
For the second straight game, Oakland's starting pitching failed to go deep. Manaea gave up four runs and five hits in 42⁄ innings.
3 Houston left- hander Framber Valdez yielded two runs and f ive hits in seven innings. Rays 7, Yankees 5: Randy Arozarena, Mike Zunino, Manuel Margot and Austin Meadows hit home runs, Tyler Glasnow struck out 10 to set a franchise postseason record, and Tampa Bay defeated New York in San Diego to even their ALDS at one game apiece.
The Rays had enough pop to overcome a huge game by Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who had two home runs and four runs batted in. His power display included a 458- foot, three- run homer that landed under the giant video board in left field at Petco Park.
Stanton has three homers this series and f ive in four postseason games.
Each team has hit six home runs in two games at the downtown ballpark, where the outfield once had the reputation as a place where f ly balls went to die.
Four Rays pitchers combined to strike out 18, a major league postseason record for a nine- inning game and a postseason record for Yankees batters.
DJ LeMahieu hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth, but Tampa Bay reliever Pete Fairbanks retired Aaron Judge on a grounder with runners on the corners to end the game.