Cristian Javier knew right away his fastball was working in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. Then again, it is October, when he always seems to be at his best for the Houston Astros.
“There’s not a better feeling than knowing that your teammates instill their confidence in you,” Javier said through his translator. “They expect good things in you and put their trust in you.”
The 26-year-old Dominican right-hander known as El Reptil delivered again on Wednesday, working into the sixth inning of another solid post-season start as the Astros beat the Texas Rangers 8-5 to close to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Photo: AFP
“He was good. He was very good,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said.
Javier held Texas to two runs and three hits over 5-2/3 innings. He threw 51 of 85 pitches for strikes and walked only one batter.
“These moments are extremely special for me,” said Javier, who won for the second time these playoffs and is 4-0 in his four career post-season starts while allowing only five total hits.
Texas lost for the first time this post-season after a 7-0 start. Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer was gone after four innings in his first outing in more than a month after recovering from a strained shoulder muscle.
Javier set a franchise record for defending champions the Astros by extending his post-season scoreless streak to 20-1/3 innings until the fifth inning, when rookie All-Star starting third baseman Josh Jung hit the first of his pair of two-run homers.
“He’s got that fastball, his rises a little bit, and hitters have a tough time,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s been throwing well in the post-season. We knew that coming in, we had our hands full.”
After going 7-1 in his first 14 starts this year, Javier had a 7.27 ERA over a 13-game stretch. He went more than a month without a win before six scoreless innings in the regular-season finale on Oct. 1 at Arizona, an 8-1 victory that clinched the American League West title.
Ryan Pressly, the third reliever, worked the ninth and induced Jung’s game-ending, double-play grounder for his third save this post-season.
Jose Altuve homered, while Martin Maldonado, the catcher wearing reptile-skin spikes as a nod to his pitcher’s nickname, and Yordan Alvarez both had two-run singles for the Astros. They scored five runs with two outs.
Jung hit his second two-run homer in the seventh inning for the wild-card Rangers, who played only their second home game this post-season. They swept Tampa Bay and Baltimore — the Amercian League’s top two teams in the regular season — to get to their first Championship Series since 2011 and their first post-season series against their instate division rivals.
The Astros are 40-45 at home this year, losing three of four in the playoffs, but they have won 17 of their past 20 road games, including both at Minnesota in the American League Division Series and three during a record-setting sweep at Globe Life Field early last month, when they homered 16 times and outscored Texas 39-10.
“It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen because usually you want to be .500 on the road and way over .500 at home,” Baker said. “I asked the team in spring training to be the best road team. Maybe I should have asked them to be the best road and home team. They usually give me what I ask for.”
The Rangers had trailed after only one of the previous 64 innings this post-season until a three-run second that put Houston ahead to stay.
Alvarez was hit by a cutter on his left foot to start that frame, struggling Kyle Tucker walked and Mauricio Dubon loaded the bases with a single. Alvarez came home as Scherzer bounced a wild pitch off Jonah Heim’s mitt and Maldonado, the No. 9 batter, followed with his big hit.
Altuve homered leading off the third inning. Jose Abreu doubled on the first pitch in the fourth and made it 5-0 when he scored on a single by Dubon, who had three hits.
Scherzer, a trade-deadline acquisition from the Mets, gave up five runs and five hits in taking the loss.
The last batter Javier faced was rookie Evan Carter, whose hard two-out liner to right sailed over Tucker’s head to the wall after being misplayed into a double by the Gold Glove finalist. Hector Neris then replaced Javier and the inning ended with a defensive gem.
Left-fielder Michael Brantley, a 36-year-old five-time All-Star who returned in August after missing 14 months with a shoulder injury, sprinted to make a diving catch in the gap and take an extra-base hit away from Adolis Garcia.
That still might not have been the best defensive play of the night.
Alvarez got robbed of what would have been his seventh homer this post-season to straightaway center leading off the sixth inning. Leody Taveras made a leaping catch with his arm extended beyond the wall.
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