HOUSTON – Rangers reliever Josh Sborz admitted the club had a night to sulk after a crushing loss in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.
“A hundred and sixty-two games, you’re going to have some bad days,” he said before Game 6. “Things might not go our way, but let’s just stay calm and do our job.”
It could have been a heartbreaking loss in Game 5 at home, when Jose Altuve launched a three-run homer. José Leclerc in the ninth inning. The Rangers could have turned around without much of a fight, but Game 6 in Houston was anything but a capitulation for Texas.
“We know the other night we got punched in the stomach and it hurt,” Heim said. “We had the day off to, I guess you could say, sit in our beds and cry. But as long as we came back today, got back to work, focused and played as a team, we would be just fine. I think everyone was ready to play. There are really no nerves. We just went out and played baseball, which we did 162 times this year.
With the win, the Rangers are 2-8 all-time in potential playoff games in franchise history, with the only other victory coming in Game 5 of the 2010 ALDS against the Rays.
“We had no choice tonight,” the second baseman said. Marcus Semien. “Our backs were against the wall. We did just enough to keep the lead, got out of a few jams and then just a big swing from Adolis. …We live to fight another day and we will see what tomorrow brings.
The road team has now won all six games to start the ALCS.
Texas is 7-0 on the road in the postseason, becoming only the second team to win its first seven road games in a single postseason (1996 Yankees). The only other team with a road winning streak of more than seven games in a single postseason was the 2019 Nationals (eight games, including against the Astros in the World Series).
“I’ve never seen it, I don’t know if it’s ever happened before,” Garver said of the home/road splits in this series. “It seems a bit strange that no one is winning at home. I’d like it to stay that way. It’s interesting with two very passionate fan bases. Playing on the road is not an easy thing to do, but we did it all playoffs. It’s just one of those things, maybe it brings out the best in us. Maybe we will be up to it, but it has been difficult. We are ready to take on the challenge.
The Rangers will now hand the ball to Max Scherzer for Game 7 Monday night. The right-hander, whom Texas acquired at the trade deadline to bolster the rotation, made his first start since Sept. 12 in the Game 3 loss at Arlington.
Scherzer looked rusty in his return, allowing five runs in four innings. He will look to bounce back in a big way to send the Rangers to the World Series.
In all best-of-seven playoff series, teams that won Game 6 to force a Game 7 have prevailed in this winner-take-all contest 33 of 59 times (56%). As for Game 7, teams playing in their home stadiums are just 62-63 all-time in winner-take-all playoff games, including 30-27 in best-of-seven series.
“Resilient” has been this team’s theme all season, especially when things got tough afterward. Every time the Rangers stumbled — until losing the division on the final day of the regular season to the Astros — they fought their way back into the thick of things.
Now, a win against their division rival separates them from the World Series.
“We knew (the Astros) weren’t just going to roll over,” Eovaldi said. “When we got here (and won two), they immediately responded and took three from us. It’s huge for us to be able to turn the page and be able to lock in this match today. Now we have to do the same thing tomorrow. And obviously it’s win or go home.
“We have to make sure we do what we did today and I think that sets the tone with the starting pitching, and Scherzer can do that tomorrow. We go out there and attack the zone and keep them off-balance as much as possible, but everyone will be ready to go.
