There are no tomorrows for the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. This intrastate American League Championship Series comes down to a Game 7 at Minute Maid Park. Ironically, road teams have won all six games. Will that trend hold in the rubber match?
If that pattern sticks, the Texans are favored to win the AL pennant. But the Astros’ postseason experience will make them a tough out. After all, they are the two-time defending American League champions. But the Rangers might have an antidote for the Astros in Adolis Garcia.
Adolis Garcia Playing Hero Baseball
A heroes’ story arch transforms from struggle to victory. That’s what Texas Rangers right fielder Adolis Garcia went through during the 2023 ALCS Game 6. As ESPN MLB writer Jeff Passan shared, Garcia struck out in his first four at-bats.
Those results might have disheartened other players. Not Garcia, who stepped onto the plate for a fifth time. Though the Rangers had a three-point lead at the top of the ninth, it’s still within striking distance for the experienced Astros.
Adolis Garcia’s first four at-bats: four strikeouts
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 23, 2023
Adolis Garcia’s fifth at-bat: a grand slam to take tight, taut ballgame and turn it into a blowout.
The Rangers lead the Astros, 9-2.
But the Cuban power hitter stamped the exclamation mark in extending the series to a winner-take-all showdown. In his only hit, Garcia converted a grand slam, sending Leody Taveras, Marcus Semien, and Corey Seager home. His sixth hit in the ALCS traveled 375 feet at a velocity of 110.1 miles per hour. He also scored his fourth run in six games.
As OptaStats pointed out, it isn’t the first time Garcia completed a grand slam against the Astros this season. His grand slam last July 26 triggered a seven-run fifth inning, helping the Texans win 13-5. Those feats made him the first player to have a regular season and postseason grand slam against the same opponent in the same year.
Adolis García of the @Rangers is the first player in MLB history to hit a grand slam against the same opponent in the regular season and the postseason in the same year (July 26 & tonight). pic.twitter.com/dRvo8jLzbx
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 23, 2023
Garcia could have been the hero in Game 5 after converting a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth. However, Jose Altuve’s version gave Houston the game. But with one game to decide the AL’s 2023 World Series participants, Rangers fans hope Garcia will wear his hero’s cape again in the do-or-die clash.