Astros KO Scherzer early
Javier shines as Texas drops first
Jose Altuve homered, Cristian Javier worked into the sixth inning of another solid postseason start, and the Astros beat the Rangers, 8-5, Wednesday night at Arlington, Texas, closing to 2-1 in the AL Championship Series.
Texas lost for the first time this postseason after a 7-0 start. Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer was gone after four innings in his first outing in more than a month after recovering from a strained shoulder muscle.
Javier set a franchise record for the defending champion Astros by extending his postseason scoreless streak to 20‚ innings. His streak ended in the fifth when rookie
Josh Jung hit the first of his pair of two-run homers.
A 26-year-old Dominican righthander known as “El Reptil,” Javier limited the Rangers to two runs and three hits over 5„ innings in his second win this postseason. Ryan Pressly, Houston’s third reliever, worked the ninth for his third save of the playoffs, inducing Jung’s game-ending, double-play grounder.
Martín Maldonado, the catcher wearing reptile-skin spikes in reference to his pitcher’s nickname, and Yordan Alvarez both had two-run singles for the Astros.
Jung hit his second tworun homer, in the seventh, for the wild-card Rangers, who played only their second home game this postseason.
Game 4 is Thursday night and Game 5 will be Friday afternoon. The Astros have won 17 of their last 20 road games, which includes a record-setting series at Globe Life Field in early September, when they homered 16 times and outscored Texas, 39-10, in a three-game sweep.
The Rangers had trailed after only one of the previous 64 innings this postseason until a three-run second that put Houston ahead to stay.
Alvarez was hit by an 89-m.p.h. cutter on his left foot to start that frame, struggling Kyle Tucker walked, and Mauricio Dubón loaded the bases with a single. Alvarez came home as Scherzer bounced a wild pitch off Jonah Heim’s mitt and Maldonado, the No. 9 batter, followed with his big hit
Altuve, who went deep five times in that September series, homered leading off the third. José Abreu doubled on the first pitch in the fourth and scored a single by Dubón for a 5-0 lead.
When Scherzer got to the dugout and stopped on the steps after those consecutive K’s, there was a brief conversation with manager who at one point motioned toward the Rangers bullpen in right-center.
The 39-year-old Scherzer, a deadline acquisition from the Mets, gave up five runs and five hits. Scherzer was dealing with forearm tightness six weeks ago when he allowed seven runs — all on three homers — over three innings in the Astros’
12-3 win that wrapped up that September series. He threw 5‚ scoreless innings six days later, on Sept. 12 at Toronto, before going on the injured list because of the shoulder strain.
Javier was done after rookie Evan Carter’s hard two-out liner to right in the sixth, a ball that sailed over Tucker’s head to the wall after being misplayed into a double by the Gold Glove finalist. Hector Neris then replaced Javier, and the inning quickly ended with a defensive gem.
Left fielder Michael Brantley, a 36-year-old five-time AllStar who returned in August after missing 14 months with a shoulder injury, sprinted more than 80 feet to make a diving catch in the gap and take an extra-base hit away from Adolis García.
That still wasn’t the best defensive play of the night.
Alvarez got robbed of what would have been his seventh homer this postseason on a 416-foot drive to straightaway center leading off the sixth, where Leody Taveras made a leaping catch with his arm extended beyond the wall.
No Gold for Arenado
Nolan Arenado’s streak of consecutive Gold Gloves has ended at 10. The St. Louis Cardinals third baseman was not among the three finalists announced at the position, bettered by Pittsburgh’s Ke’Bryan Hayes, Colorado’s Ryan McMahon, and Atlanta’s Austin Riley.
Winners will be announced Nov. 5.
Arenado won in each of his first 10 seasons, matching the high set by Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki from 2001-10.
Players who won last year and are among the 2023 finalists are Cleveland second baseman Andrés Giménez and left fielder Steven Kwan, Houston right fielder Kyle Tucker, Philadelphia catcher J.T. Realmuto, Arizona first baseman Christian Walker, Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson and left fielder Ian Happ, and the Dodgers’ Betts, who played 107 games in right field, 70 at second base, and 16 at short.
Betts, who has won six straight Gold Gloves, also is a finalist at the utility role, a category added last year.
Voting is conducted among managers and up to six coaches from each team, and since
2013 is factored with a Society for American Baseball Research defensive index. The index comprises about 25 percent of the total.
DR academy robbed
The Detroit Tigers complex in the Dominican Republic was targeted in the latest robbery of a Major League Baseball facility in the country, police said.
One man was apprehended and police are searching for four others who entered the complex with guns, restrained the security guard, and went to the players’ rooms to steal valuables and cash, Dominican police spokesman Diego Pesqueira told the AP.
The robbery happened days after the St. Louis Cardinals complex in the country was hit. The facilities of the Miami Marlins and Cleveland Guardians were also robbed recently, a person familiar with the robberies told the AP.
Nobody was hurt in the Tigers’ and Cardinals’ robberies, authorities said.
Dominican police are investigating whether the robberies are connected.