Rangers make themselves at home in Houston, take 2-0 series lead
HOUSTON — The home clubhouse was quiet, the energy zapped. The only sounds emanated from bags being packed and zipped up, with a few murmurs from staff members mixed in. Most players sat at their lockers, postures slumped, eyes turned downward, staring at their phones.
The defending champion Astros are in a dark place, a hole they'll have to claw out of to escape.
With starting pitcher Framber Valdez scuffling and Houston's offense unable to make up the difference — two surprisingly common trends in Houston of late — the Rangers won 5-4 on Monday in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series. Valdez, who fell to 0-2 this postseason, surrendered five runs (four earned) and seven hits, committed two errors on the same play, and recorded just eight outs against Texas.
"I think the quality of my pitches were good," Valdez said afterward. "I think they maybe got a little lucky. There were a couple of balls that they didn't hit well that fell for base hits. That happened a couple of times. I tried to go as far as I could.
"We know that we're the Houston Astros. We're winners. We're not going to give up. We're going to continue to play hard."
The Astros are now trailing 2-0 in a playoff series for the first time since they lost the first three games of the 2020 ALCS to the Rays. One year earlier, Houston dropped the opening two games of the 2019 Fall Classic to the Nationals. In both series, the 'Stros responded with three consecutive wins before losing Game 7s. Their 2019 World Series defeat famously included four losses at home.
Four years later, the Astros are again struggling to take care of business at Minute Maid Park.
They rallied late in Game 2, largely thanks to another multi-home run game from the exceptionally talented Yordan Álvarez, but ultimately fell a big hit short. Houston went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, as Chas McCormick's fielder's choice with two outs and two on in the eighth represented the club's best chance to go ahead after finally cutting its deficit to a run.
José Altuve went 0-for-5; José Abreu, Houston's unofficial MVP of the ALDS against the Twins, looked lost at the plate while going 0-for-3 and striking out twice; Kyle Tucker, moved up to the three-hole (in front of Álvarez) to inject confidence in the lefty slugger, went 0-for-4. Tucker is now hitting .095 (2-for-21) this postseason.
While their soft voices provided a glimpse into the sense of despondency with the results, the edge in their tones also pointed to the frustration at missed opportunities.
"It sucks. It sucks," McCormick said. "Personally, I had two chances to help the team win. And I was swinging at f---ing balls, so. I gotta figure out not to swing at everything. I shouldn't be doing that."
Texas Rangers pull off an intense 5-4 Game 2 win on the road
Perhaps the Astros' losing record at home this year (39-42, .481%) was the real harbinger of their current standing. No team with a sub-.500 mark at home has reached the World Series. Moreover, only four clubs have posted a losing home record and even made the playoffs. Two of those instances came in shortened seasons.
The Rangers, meanwhile, went 50-31 at home (.617%) this year, and their domination in the postseason has come on the road. Texas' still-unbeaten playoff run improved to 7-0 on Monday, with six of those wins secured away from Arlington.
The Astros are familiar with being an exception to a rule, of course. Just look at this October, when they were the only division winner with that five-day layoff to advance to the ALCS. Whatever helped them contain their edge during that break and take down the Twins — whether that was talent, experience, focus, or a combination of all three — they'll need to once again dig deep and attempt to crawl out of a two-game series deficit against a Texas team that is playing like an October powerhouse.
"I think we're a good ballclub," said Alex Bregman, who homered in the fourth to continue Houston's scattered rally. "Home, road, whatever. I think it comes down to execution. They got a heck of a team, so the margin for error is a lot slimmer."
The Rangers' offense is so deep that their lone two home runs in this series came off the bats of their Nos. 6 and 9 hitters. In the first innings of Games 1 and 2, the Rangers combined for 10 hits against Astros co-aces Justin Verlander and Valdez. There is simply, and overwhelmingly, no relief at any part of the Texas lineup. The Astros trailed 4-0 on Monday before their first turn at-bat.
Their odds to come back in this series aren't favorable, either. Teams to take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven postseason matchup have gone on to win the series 75 out of 89 times (84.2%). The only team to lose an LCS after taking a 2-0 road lead was the 2020 Braves, versus the Dodgers.
But Houston won't pay attention to any of that baseball history. The only hope, for now, is that the Astros can replicate what they did six weeks ago, when they outscored their current foe — in Arlington — by an absurd 39-10 margin during a three-game sweep. Even though the Astros began this ALCS by asserting that their regular-season results don't matter in the playoffs, those results will now have to serve as 11th-hour encouragement.
"The good thing is we play a little better on the road," McCormick said. "We played well at that stadium. We gotta win two out of three going over there. It's do-or-die at this point."
Game 3, just the Rangers' second game at Globe Life Field this October, will be played Wednesday (FS1, 8:03 p.m. ET). Max Scherzer is set to make his return to the mound for Texas after he was initially thought to be out for the postseason with a shoulder injury. He'll square off against Cristian Javier, who's trying to rally himself amid an uneven 2023 campaign.
This is the time of year Scherzer was acquired from the Mets in July for and Javier has previously reveled in.
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Texas skipper Bruce Bochy said he knew from the moment he walked into spring training back in February that his club would be in the postseason.
"And we get to the postseason, you feel like you can be a championship club," Bochy added.
The Astros, too, believed they'd reach the postseason from the moment they strolled into spring as the reigning champions. More recently, Verlander pointed to the club's culture and attitude as a reason it's been able to stay resilient all year. At no point in the season did the Astros relax or simply expect greatness, Verlander contended. They planned and prepared for it.
Winning just hasn't come easy for this squad. Houston's been particularly hampered by injuries to its offense and, at times, lacked the dependable starting pitching it's grown accustomed to. In the backdrop, though, was the Astros healthy bats not producing at home. Whereas they eventually overcame injuries and straightened out their staff at the trade deadline, finding offense at Minute Maid Park has remained an issue. That's led, in part, to the Astros' 0-2 start in the ALCS.
When asked directly why the Astros have hit better on the road, players have said they don't have a clue. Mumbles of "not sure," or shrugs, or disregard for their home struggles are their only explanations. Regardless of their on-camera responses, it's their on-field answers (or lack thereof) that matter most.
"We have nothing else to do than win in Texas," Álvarez said.
So, with their season on the line, they wave farewell to this strange home-field disadvantage and welcome the change of scenery — even if the next stop is only a three-plus hour drive away. The Astros, as they often have, will have to do their best work on the road to dig out of this hole. Then they'll have to prevail at their house of horrors at least once to stay alive.
Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
