From the top
Leadoff man George Springer is on fire.
Playing at a ballpark where he already had enjoyed two of the best days of his career, George Springer did his best efforts one better Monday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.
Springer, who earlier Monday was announced as the Astros’ most valuable player by the local chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, had four hits from the leadoff spot to help fuel Houston’s Game 1 win in the American League Division Series.
His four hits tied a Dodger Stadium playoff record that he shares with his manager, Dusty Baker, and he became the sixth Astros player to have four hits in a playoff game.
Monday’s game marked Springer’s fifth postseason game at Dodger Stadium with decidedly up and down results, including two oh-fers in the 2017 World Series along with a three-hit effort in Game 2 and a two-hit triumph with amammoth home run in the deciding Game 7 three years ago.
He didn’t go deep Monday against the A’s, but that wasn’t necessarily his goal.
“I’m just trying to get to first base, to be completely honest,” he said. “I know who’s up behind me, and I knowwhat they can do.
“For me, it’s all about slowing down and trying to get something to hit and, hopefully, hitting it.”
He was stranded after base hits in the first, third and fifth inning, but his sixth-inning double against Athletics relief pitcher J.B. Wendelken drove in Josh Reddick, who reached on an error to begin the inning, to begin a fourrun frame that turned the game in the Astros’ direction.
He came around to score one batter later on Jose Altuve’s tworun base hit.
“I know that through the first three or four innings, we didn’t have a lot of success, butwe had a lot of good quality at-bats,” Springer said. “Some guys had good swings and didn’t have any luck, and some guys took us a lot of pitches.
“For us to score off a guy who has been pretty much unhittable for the whole month of September and all year was huge. As the game got deeper, the at-bats got better.”
Springer was limited to an RBI single in the wild card series against the Twins but was hot in September to end the regular season, hitting .316 with nine homers and a 1.033 OPS for the month.
“George is closing in on 200 atbats, and that is about the time when the big boys start swinging it,” Baker said. “The repetition and concentration level have increased. He’s not fouling balls off or missing balls he was missing earlier in the year.
“When a guy gets on a streak, he feels like he’s going to get a hit every time up. When he’s in a bad streak, it’s like there’s 22 men on the field with no holes anywhere. We’re certainly enjoying the hot streak he’s on, and George is going to get even hotter.”
In his final year in Houston before entering free agency after the 2020 season, Springer this year has ceded some of the vocal leadership role he held for much of his tenure in Houston to Carlos Correa, who had two home runs in the Astros’ win Monday.
He remains, however, as a potential spark plug at the top of the lineup, capable of starting a big inning or contributing with runners in scoring position.
“When you’ve got the leadoff guy getting on base every single time, good things are going to happen,” Correa said. “He’s one of the best players in the game, he had a solid September and he’s great in October. Where he goes, we go as a team.”
Where, or if, he will go elsewhere after the season remains a worrisome background thought for Astros fans as the playoffs progress. For now, Springer said, his sights are leveled on Tuesday and nothing more.
“It was a good offensive day for us,” he said, “but it’s on to tomorrow.
“Understanding that this is the playoffs and you don’t know if you’re ever going to get back here, you may as well enjoy it, and whatever happens, happens.”