Maldonado lights a fire in Game 3 win
ARLINGTON — A critical moment for the Astros in Game 3 of the ALCS materialized slowly. Max Scherzer missed with a two-strike cutter that met Yordan Alvarez’s left foot. Kyle Tucker took five pitches and moseyed to first base. Mauricio Dubón lined a single into left field to load them in the second inning.
Lack of timely hits marred Houston’s losses in Games 1 and 2. Astros hitters went 1-for-9 with men in scoring position. Several mused that one or two such hits might have altered the outcome of Game 2. Instead, they emerged in a deficit no Astros team has overcome to win a best-ofseven playoff series.
Another opportunity arose in Wednesday’s second inning. Dubón’s oneout single presented it to the bottom two hitters in Houston’s order. Jeremy Peña couldn’t capitalize, skying a popup that Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien caught in shallow center. Martín Maldonado strode to the plate.
For the third time in as many games, Maldonado’s spot arrived in a basesloaded situation. In Game 1, Jordan Montgomery struck Maldonado out in the fourth inning to help preserve a shutout. In Game 2, manager Dusty Baker pinch-hit for Maldonado in the fifth inning with Yainer
Diaz, who struck out against Nathan Eovaldi.
As early as it came in Game 3, the at-bat belonged to Maldonado. Scherzer opened with a 95 mph fastball for a borderline strike. He then bounced a slider that eluded catcher Jonah Heim, bringing Alvarez home with the game’s first run. It advanced all three runners but, Maldonado later said, did not alter how he approached the at-bat.
“He can throw any pitch any count,” Maldonado said of Scherzer. “Because he bounces a slider doesn’t mean he doesn’t come back with another slider. So I was trying to see something up, just to put a good swing on it.”
Scherzer threw a 1-1 fastball up in the zone. Maldonado pulled it for a 101 mph one-hopper that glanced off third baseman Josh Jung and into left field for a tworun single. The type of swing that had eluded the Astros for two games proved to ignite them.
“I think Maldy’s base hit, the two RBIS, was probably the key for tonight,” second baseman Jose Altuve said.
“I think the guys maybe just kind of took a breath and said, ‘All right, let’s put together some good atbats,’ ” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “And I think it was really good.”
The Astros struck 12 hits in an 8-5 win that narrowed the Rangers’ lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven ALCS. Five came with a man in scoring position.
Maldonado’s swing loomed particularly large after the Astros had not held a lead for the first 19 innings of this series. Scherzer, making his first start since Sept. 12 due to a shoulder injury, allowed five runs in four innings.
“They eliminated the big inning for the first two games against us,” left fielder Michael Brantley said. “So we had a nice crooked number to put up on the board. But at the same time, it’s a great offense over there. We had to keep scoring. We continued to keep pressure on … and we have to continue to do that throughout the entire series.”