Astros’ stars stage stunning comeback
Springer’s homer punctuates one of the most exciting games in the history of the World Series
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 apparently, a wildly veering contest that will be remembered for years as one of the most electric, dramatic and ultimately 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 a win apiece.
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 starter 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 though that the starting gates opened for an exhilarating ride to a photo finish for the ages.
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.
Of course it never would have got that far if the Astros didn’t engineer their own gritty rally.
The Astros scored singletons in each of the eighth and the ninth in extra innings, 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.
And 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 the Astros’ fourth homer in three innings, a two-run smash to put the visitors back up by two.
Of course 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 night at Minute Maid Park. And you get the feeling there will be plenty more to the story.