If Wednesday’s World Series Game 2 was a Disneyland ride in the 1970s, it would require an “E ticket,” such were the twists and turns, and thrills and spills of the 11-inning affair, somehow pulled out by the Houston Astros, 7-6. Having tied the Series at one apiece, the ‘Stros now take the action to Minute Maid Park, starting Friday, as the Los Angeles Dodgers try to regroup.
This game marked the Houston franchise’s first World Series game win in six games, having been swept by the Chicago White Sox in 2005. Game 2 took 4 hours and 19 minutes to complete, in stark contrast to Game 1’s crisp 2 hours, 28 minutes.
It all started innocently enough, as an almost carbon copy of Game 1’s pastoral and serene matchup of aces that ended as a 3-1 Dodger victory. Then, all Hill broke loose. George Springer hit the winning 2-run dinger after blasts by Marwin Gonzalez in the 9th, and a Jose Altuve/Carlos Correa back-to-back in the 10th.
Hill To Pay: The 1st of Two Slammed Gloves
Lefty Rich Hill started for the LA Nine, while Justin Verlander rode the bump for Houston. The Astros broke through first in the third inning, by stringing together three singles off Hill, who was removed after four innings, with Houston up, 1-0. Network TV cameras caught Hill angrily slamming his glove down onto the dugout floor.
Through 4.2 innings, it looked like the storyline for Game 2 might be a Verlander no-hitter. LA scored, though, in the fifth on a two-out homer by Joc Pederson, his first since July 26. An inning later, Corey Seager followed a two-out walk to Chris Taylor with an opposite-field two-run homer on an upper 90s-mph Verlander fastball to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.
File Under: Houston Can Hit Jansen, and the 2nd of Two SGs
The Dodgers’ relief corps had gone 28 straight innings without giving up a run prior to the game’s fateful 8th inning. In fact, Los Angeles entered Game 2 with an imposing 98-0 record (including the postseason) when leading after eight innings.
Nonetheless, Houston pulled to within 3-2 in the 8th, which began with Alex Bregman‘s ground-rule double off reliever Brandon Morrow, a hit on which Dodgers right fielder, Yasiel Puig, dove and almost caught. When he didn’t, he became the second Dodger to behave like a petulant 9-year-old, slamming his glove angrily to the ground. Seems like that’s a move those in Dodger blue have down pat.
Previously unhittable closer Kenley Jansen relieved Morrow, and after coaxing Altuve into a harmless ground-out, Correa slapped a bleeder into center for a single that scored Bregman.
Here’s what happened, in the words of MLB.com’s Joe Posnanski: “The Astros’ Marwin Gonzalez stepped to the plate. Gonzalez had looked helpless all postseason, hitting .150 in the first 12 games.
“But it didn’t matter. Gonzalez crunched a home run to center field to tie the score. A raucous Dodger Stadium fell into silence.”
Marwin thus became the first player to hit a game-tying HR in the ninth inning of a World Series road game since Boston’s Dwight Evans (1975, Game 3).
Posnanski again: “After the Gonzalez home run, it was clear that Los Angeles did not really have a Plan B. (Dodgers manager Dave) Roberts had invested everything in Plan A, in having Jansen finish the job. With that blueprint gone, Roberts brought in reliever Josh Fields to pitch the 10th inning.”
Fields, a former Astro, was traded to LA on August 1, 2016, in the deal that brought Houston burgeoning 1B prospect, Yordan Alvarez.
While Fields had been prone to giving up taters for much of 2017, he faced an Altuve who had uncharacteristically whiffed, twice, on three pitches in his first two at-bats against Hill. Having gotten behind Altuve, 2-0 in the count, Fields unleashed a 97-mph fastball that arguably the quickest bat in baseball turned around and sent into the left-centerfield bleachers, to give the Astros a 4-3 lead.
Moments later, Correa slammed a Fields offering over the left field wall, extending the Houston lead, 5-3. In so doing, Correa tossed his bat high into the air as he watched his missile clear the fence. A Yuli Gurriel double in the gap chased Fields for lefty reliever Tony Cingrani, who got struggling right fielder Josh Reddick to hit into a double play to end the inning.
Puig greeted Houston closer, Ken Giles, with a home run of his own, and seemed to make a point of staring down the pitcher, as he gently laid his bat down on the ground, mercifully sparing it a similar fate as his battered glove. 5-4, Astros, and the collective hearts of the Houston faithful began to sink.
After Giles struck out two Dodgers, he walked Logan Forsythe, a late-inning replacement for second baseman, Chase Utley. Giles’ wild pitch moved Forsythe to second. Another former Astro, Kiké Hernandez, promptly cracked a single to right that scored Forsythe, tying the game at 5. Right fielder Reddick’s throw was slightly up the first base line, but replays seemed to hint that a perfect throw still might not have nailed the runner.
The Final Blow…and America’s Taco
Cameron Maybin opened the 11th inning with a single to left-center off the 9th Dodger pitcher of the game, Brandon McCarthy. Maybin, obtained by Houston late in the season precisely for a moment like this, stole second, and subsequently, won a free Taco Bell taco for all. Concentrating on more pressing issues than Mexican cuisine was George Springer, who followed the steal with the back-breaking homer to right-center, pulling the score to a Houston lead of 7-5.
“He’s an incredible player,” Hinch would say later of Springer. “I don’t really ride the roller coaster with players. You have to believe in what they can do. This is one of our best players, and there’s no need to panic over a bad night against Clayton Kershaw.”
With two outs in the bottom of the 11th, Houston reliever, Chris Devenski, served up a fat one to Dodger left fielder, Charlie Culberson, who inexplicably hit a rare homer, and just as inexplicably, “airplaned” his way around the bases, apparently thinking his four-bagger meant something like a tie game or the winning run. Alas, no. Merely a 7-6 Astro lead, now, and the epic battle between Devo and Puig commenced.
For eight nail-biting pitches, Devenski challenged Puig to a full count, but all that mattered, ultimately, was what happened on pitch nine, as Posnanski recounts: “Devenski threw one last changeup, 84 mph, down and sinking fast. Puig swung over it for strike three. The Astros had won.”
Notes on a Launch Pad
According to HowManyAltuves.com (and they should know), there were 598 Altuves worth of home runs hit last night; 454 Altuves of that were in the 9th inning or later! That’s another way of saying that both teams combined for a World Series record 8 home runs, with the 5 extra-inning dingers also being a Series record. In fact, those 5 extra-inning jobs are a record for any game…ever. Plus, the Astros became the first team in major league history to hit 3 home runs in extra innings of a postseason game.
Before Wednesday’s game, Altuve became the first Astro to be bestowed the American League’s Hank Aaron Award, presented annually since 1999 to “the most outstanding offensive performers” in each of the American and National Leagues. Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins was the NL recipient. Stanton also won the award in 2014. During the pre-game awards ceremony, Aaron told Altuve he’s one of the few players he’d pay to see play.
Astros infielder, Tyler White, Tweeted, “If I ever hear anyone say baseball is boring, I’m bringing up that game. What a win!”
Longtime Houston Astros fans remember the countless years when annual triple-digit losses kept Astros caps and t-shirts hidden deep in our closets.
Now, Astro-bling of all types can be seen by just walking around Texas! The Astros' goal for 2020? To re-visit the magic of '17 and find a finger for championship ring #2!
As the Houston Astros Correspondent for TRS, it's been a blast meeting new fans and new friends, all of whom know where to turn for Astro news, prospect profiles, historical perspective, and a few surprises!
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