Nathan Eovaldi on Sunday remained perfect this post-season, while Mitch Garver and Jonah Heim homered early before a ninth-inning grand slam by Adolis Garcia helped the Texas Rangers avoid elimination with a 9-2 win over the Houston Astros in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS).
“I’m just proud of how these guys keep bouncing back,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “They’re amazing. They really are. They just don’t let adversity get to them.”
Texas and Houston had identical regular-season records (90-72), with the AL West title going to the Astros on a head-to-head tiebreaker. Now the heated rivals are tied once again, and this time the stakes are much higher — with a World Series trip on the line.
Photo: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY
Eovaldi, who also won Game 2, yielded five hits and two runs in 6-1/3 innings to improve to 4-0 with a 2.42 ERA in the playoffs this year. The wild-card Rangers, one of six major league teams without a World Series title, are trying to return to the Fall Classic for the first time since back-to-back trips in 2010-11.
“Of course, Nate set the tone out there. How many times has he done that?” Bochy said. “And we just had great at-bats throughout the lineup.”
The defending World Series champion Astros were again felled by a subpar start from Framber Valdez and lackluster play at home.
Valdez was charged with five hits and three runs, while striking out six in five innings to fall to 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA this post-season.
The Rangers led by two before breaking open the game with a five-run ninth, punctuated by the slam from Garcia — who struck out his previous four times up. The slugger was booed throughout the game after being at the center of a bench-clearing scuffle in Game 5 that started when he was hit by a pitch from Bryan Abreu.
When Garcia knocked a pitch from Ryne Stanek into the Crawford Boxes in left field with one out, many of those fans began streaming for the exits after yet another poor showing at home by Houston.
The Astros, who are 5-0 on the road this post-season, fell to 1-4 in Houston, after posting a 39-42 mark at Minute Maid Park in the regular season.
“That doesn’t matter. It’s in the past,” left fielder Michael Brantley said. “We need to turn the page and be ready for tomorrow.”
No team with a losing record at home has ever reached the World Series.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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