Major League Baseball

Can resilient Rangers respond after absorbing biggest blow yet?

Published Oct. 21, 2023 3:52 a.m. ET

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Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

The first time Globe Life Field came to life Friday would also be the last. 

An hour after Adolis García delivered one of the biggest swings in Rangers history, a familiar feeling followed Friday night — both for a Rangers franchise left shell-shocked by its latest October heartbreaker and for the reigning champion Astros, who moved one win away from returning to the World Series courtesy of José Altuve's latest late-inning postseason feat. 

Altuve's go-ahead home run in the ninth inning of the Astros' 5-4 Game 5 win of the American League Championship Series marked the third time the star second baseman has supplied a go-ahead blast in the ninth inning or later of a playoff game.  

For the Rangers, Altuve's swing also had to feel a bit like déjà vu — not only because Houston has pummeled them at Globe Life Field, not only because Altuve has tormented them all year, but also because it served as a gutting reminder of their last deep October run. 

Twelve years ago, Texas infamously came one strike away from winning the 2011 World Series on two separate occasions, leading by two runs in the ninth inning of Game 6 before succumbing to the Cardinals' late-inning barrage and falling flat in Game 7. That was the closest the franchise has come to winning a World Series. This is the closest it has come since. 

Again, the Rangers led by two runs in the ninth inning of a late October melee on Friday night. Again, their opponent triumphed in stunning fashion. Again, they'll get a chance to respond to the agonizing letdown, hoping this time they can put it behind them.

Again, their playoff lives depend on it. 

They don't have to go back far to see the blueprint.

Four years ago, after Altuve's walk-off blast sent the Astros past the Yankees to go to the World Series, Houston found itself in this exact position. The Astros dropped both games at home to the Nationals, then took all three on the road. Washington responded by stealing the final two games of the series in Houston to win the World Series. 

This year, "home-field advantage" is an especially misleading phrase. Until García's home run in the sixth inning of Game 5, the home team had never led at any point in the ALCS. Now, the series returns to Minute Maid Park, where the Astros dropped both games to start the series and sported a losing record during the regular season. 

All of that should give the Rangers some hope if their typically dynamic hitters — particularly lead-off man Marcus Semien, who is hitting .159 this postseason — can come alive and closer José Leclerc can put his first blown save of the playoffs behind.

"There's still games left," García said after getting ejected Friday night. "There's another game that we have to turn towards, focus on. I'm going to keep letting the guys know, we still have a shot at this." 

It remains to be seen what, if any, ramifications come from Friday's fracas, which saw García, Astros reliever Bryan Abreu and Astros manager Dusty Baker all get tossed after García was hit by a pitch in the eighth inning in his first plate appearance following his three-run blast. 

The Astros downplayed the intent. García, who already had history with Martín Maldonado before he had to be separated from the Astros catcher Friday night, described his reaction as "heat of the moment." Rangers manager Bruce Bochy expressed his discontent at how long everything took — 12 minutes from the moment García got hit by Abreu's pitch to the resumption of the game; seven minutes from the time Baker was ejected to the point he left the dugout. 

All of it added to the drama of a budding Texas rivalry. 

Benches clear between Astros and Rangers after Adolis García HBP

Upon a return to play, the Rangers failed to tack on to a lead they would relinquish. They went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position Friday and are 7-for-34 this series, numbers that'll have to improve if they want to rebound. Leclerc, who was called upon to record an out in the eighth inning, didn't look the same after the nearly 25-minute layoff before surrendering Altuve's blast.  

"I was concerned about that delay," Bochy said. "I really was. It was a long one. It was taking too long, to be honest. The whole thing is a bunch of crap, to be honest, what happened there. Who knows what intentions are, but it's not the first time it's happened, and couldn't get the game going again. And I'm sure it affected him." 

That hurt can't last long if Leclerc and the Rangers want to return to the World Series for the first time since 2011. 

They've prided themselves on their ability to respond, weathering the loss of Jacob deGrom for the season, persevering through extended absences from Max Scherzer and All-Stars Corey Seager, Josh Jung, Jonah Heim and Nathan Eovaldi at different points in the second half as their early division lead dwindled, and winning their first seven playoff games on the heels of dropping the division to the Astros on the final day of the regular season. 

The Rangers' latest test is their most consequential, needing two wins in Houston, beginning with a Game 6 matchup Sunday (FS1, 8:03 p.m. ET) between Eovaldi and Framber Valdez that they have to like. 

Eovaldi has thrown three quality starts to begin the postseason, holding the Astros to three runs in six innings in Game 2. Valdez, meanwhile, has allowed five runs in each of his two October starts and did not escape the third inning against the Rangers in Game 2 at Minute Maid Park, as five of the first six batters reached base to start the game. 

Texas' electric offense has not looked quite the same since.  

Perhaps, like the Astros in Arlington, a trip back to Houston is the remedy. The Rangers' playoff lives depend on it.

"They've done a great job of bouncing back all year," Bochy said. "And I'm confident that they will." 

Rowan Kavner covers the Dodgers and MLB as a whole for FOX Sports. He previously was the Dodgers' editor of digital and print publications. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner. 

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