ASTROS STAY ALIVE!
Correa HR in 9th forces Game 6
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 five rookies to remain alive in the AL Championship Series.
Correa drove a fastball at the letters from Nick Anderson to straightaway center field, watched the ball for a few steps and then flung his bat. He was greeted at home by his ecstatic teammates. Correa is only 3 for 18 in the series, but two of the hits are homers.
Houston won a second straight elimination game thanks in large part to starter Luis Garcia and four fellow rookies, who combined to hold the Rays to two runs and four hits through 6 2/3 innings before manager Dusty Baker finally turned to a veteran, Josh
James. Ryan Pressly, the seventh Astros pitcher, got the victory.
The Astros pulled to 3-2 and forced Game 6 tonight, which will be a rematch between lefthanders Blake Snell of Tampa Bay and Framber Valdez of Houston.
In the ALCS for a fourth straight year, the Astros are trying to join the 2004 Boston Red Sox as the only teams to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-ofseven series. The Red Sox beat the New York Yankees in the
ALCS and went on to win their first World Series in 86 seasons.
Otherwise, big league clubs leading 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series are 37-1.
The Astros became the first team to hit a leadoff and walkoff home run in a postseason game.
“We had a meeting after we lost that third game. We said, H`ey, we’re not ready to go home, so we’ve got to do something about it.’” Correa said. “But we’ve still got a long ways to go. We’ve got to keep taking care of business.”