Astros stay alive again in ALCS
His called game- winning home run follows solid pitching as Houston holds off elimination again.
Correa hits a walk- off home run for a 4- 3 win against Tampa Bay.
HOUSTON 4, TAMPA BAY 3
SAN DIEGO — Carlos Correa homered with one out in the ninth inning and the Houston Astros beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4- 3 Thursday behind sensational pitching from f ive rookies to remain alive in the American League Championship Series.
Correa drove a pitch from Nick Anderson to center f ield, watched the ball for a few steps and then f lung his bat. He was greeted at home by his ecstatic teammates.
Houston won a second straight elimination game largely because of starter Luis Garcia and four fellow rookies, who combined to hold the Rays to two runs and four hits through 62⁄ innings before man
3 ager Dusty Baker turned to veteran Josh James. Ryan Pressly, the seventh Astros pitcher, got the win.
The Astros pulled to three games to two. They are trying to join the 2004 Boston Red Sox as the only teams to come back from a 3- 0 deficit in a best- of- seven series.
“We had a meeting after we lost that third game,” Correa said. “We said, ‘ Hey, we’re not ready to go home, so we’ve got to do something about it.’ But we’ve still got a long ways to go. We’ve got to keep taking care of business.”
Baker said Correa called the walk- off shot.
“I don’t mean no disrespect when I call my shot,” said Correa, who added that he went to the indoor cage after his second and third at- bats to work with hitting coach Alex Cintron and make adjustments.
“We felt it and it was like, ‘ Wow. This feels good.’ ”
George Springer homered on John Curtiss’ f irst pitch and Michael Brantley broke a tie with a single. Houston became the f irst team with a leadoff and walk- off home run in a postseason game.