Astros Trying To Avoid Repeat of Playoff History in ALCS Game 7 vs. Rangers

Jose Altuve is tired of hearing about the 2019 World Series.

The Houston Astros second baseman’s walk-off, three-run home run in a Game 5 American League Championship Series (ALCS) win over the Texas Rangers late last week gave the defending champions a 3-2 series lead.

Altuve was asked before first pitch about the similarities between this ALCS and the 2019 Fall Classic, when the Astros won three games in a row after facing an 0-2 hole.

Houston dropped Games 6 and 7 to the Nationals at home that year. Not that the former American League MVP needed a reminder.

“I think someone tried to talk to me about it and I stopped it right away,” Altuve said on Friday. “I don’t want to think about it. If that’s the case, we’re going to end up losing. So I didn’t really want to think about it.”

But as the ALCS enters Game 7, history is on the verge of repeating itself.

A 9-2 Rangers win on Sunday night in Game 6 pushed the series to a winner-take-all seventh game. The road team has won the first six games of this series. The only other time that has happened in a best-of-seven postseason series in MLB history? When the Nationals won four games against the Astros at Minute Maid Park in 2019. That included a Washington road win in Game 7.

This ALCS has followed that same pattern. The Astros lost at home to the Rangers in Games 1 and 2 before winning three in a row on the road. But, again, Houston could not close out the series at home in Game 6. Now Game 7 awaits.

Texas is 7-0 on the road this postseason, becoming just the second team to win its first seven road games in one postseason, joining the 1996 New York Yankees. The only other team with a road win streak of seven-plus games in a single postseason? Yes, the 2019 Nationals.

“Never seen it, I don’t know if it’s ever happened before,” Rangers catcher Mitch Garver said of the home/road results in this series, via the MLB website. “Seems a little odd that nobody is winning at home. I would like for it to stay that way. It is interesting with two very passionate fan bases. Playing on the road is not an easy thing to do, but we’ve been doing it all postseason. It’s just one of those things, maybe it brings out the best in us.

“Maybe we rise to the occasion, but it’s been tough. We’re up for the challenge.”

The Astros won the AL West over the Rangers on the final day of the regular season. Still, Texas managed to sweep its first two playoff opponents to reach the ALCS as a Wild Card team. And now this all-Texas ALCS all comes down to this.

Here’s what else fans should know before Game 7.

How to Watch Rangers vs. Astros Game 7

First pitch for Game 7 of the ALCS is scheduled for 8:03 p.m. ET on Monday in Houston. The game will air on FOX and FS1. Joe Davis (play-by-play) and John Smoltz (analyst) will be on the call, while Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci will report throughout the broadcast.

The winner will advance to the 2023 World Series and play either the Philadelphia Phillies or Arizona Diamondbacks. The Phillies hold a 3-2 series lead going into Monday’s National League Championship Series Game 6. This year’s Fall Classic will begin later this week on Friday, October 27. The Astros are seeking their third consecutive World Series appearance and fifth overall since 2017. Houston won it all in 2017 and 2022.

The Rangers’ Game 6 ALCS victory, meanwhile, was the franchise’s second-ever elimination-game win (2-8 all-time) and first since 2010. One more would give Texas its first World Series appearance since it made back-to-back trips in 2010 and 2011.

The Rangers have never won the World Series.

“It’s intense,” first-year Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, who won three World Series titles with the San Francisco Giants, said after Game 6. “There’s no getting around it. People ask you, ‘Are you having fun?’ Yeah, it’s fun, you try to enjoy it, but it’s intense out there. That’s what I came back for, to be in this situation. It’s exciting.”

Who is Pitching For Rangers, Astros?

The Rangers’ starting pitcher for Game 7 happens to be the same right-hander who was on the mound for the Nationals in the decisive final game of the 2019 World Series: Max Scherzer.

The three-time Cy Young winner allowed two runs over five innings in that Game 7, which the Nationals won 6-2. Scherzer will take the same mound in the same park looking for similar results on Monday night.

The 39-year-old was acquired by the Rangers from the New York Mets at the trade deadline to bolster their starting rotation. Scherzer allowed five runs in four innings in a Game 3 Rangers loss. That was his first start since mid-September. And Texas is hoping for vintage “Mad Max” this time around. Monday will mark Scherzer’s 29th postseason appearance. During those previous 28 outings, the eight-time All-Star compiled a 3.80 ERA.

This will be Scherzer’s fifth start in a winner-take-all game, tying him for the most all-time. Scherzer’s team has won three of those starts.

Cristian Javier will get the start on the mound for the Astros. “El Reptil” allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings in his Game 3 start, allowing just one walk and striking out three batters. Javier was 10-5 with a 4.56 ERA over 31 regular-season starts, but seems to be at his best in the postseason.

The 26-year-old has a 2.08 ERA and .92 WHIP through 10 2/3 innings in the playoffs.

Will Astros or Rangers Win Game 7? What the Numbers Say

Of all the best-of-seven postseason series in MLB history, teams that have won Game 6 to force a Game 7 have come out on top in the final contest 33 of 59 times (56 percent), according to MLB’s website. Home teams are 62-63 all-time in winner-take-all postseason games, including 30-27 in best-of-seven series.

So history seems to be on the Rangers’ side.

The Astros’ 51-30 road record was the best in baseball during the regular season. But at home, Houston was only 39-42, the worst ever for a division winner in a full season. Not that the Astros can give much thought to that, or their past failures, now.

“Different year, different team,” Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker, who was also on the team during the 2019 World Series loss, said via the MLB website. “We’ve just got to come back tomorrow and win a ballgame. We’ll come back prepared and get going out of the gate.”