The Texas Rangers forced a Game 7 in the American League Championship Series thanks to an easy 9-2 win over the Houston Astros.
Home runs from Adolis García, Mitch Garver and Jonah Heim helped the Rangers stave off elimination and remain in the hunt for a first World Series title in franchise history.
With the score finely poised at 4-2, the game’s main event came in the ninth inning.
After the Rangers had walked in a run, García crushed a grand slam – a home run with all bases loaded – to extend the Rangers’ lead to 9-2.
“We know the other night we got punched in the stomach, and it hurt,” Heim said about the Game 5 defeat, per MLB.com.
“We had a day off to, I guess you can say, sit in our beds and cry. But as long as we came back today and got back to work and focused and played as a team, we were going to be just fine.
“I think everybody came ready to play. There’s really no nerves. We just went out and played baseball, what we did 162 times this year.”
The decisive Game 7 takes place on Monday night at Minute Maid Park in Houston – but that doesn’t necessarily mean homefield is an advantage for the Astros.
This is only the second time in MLB history that the first six games of a best-of-seven series have all been won by the away team, according to ESPN.
The Rangers are now 7-0 during this postseason, marking only the second time in MLB history after the New York Yankees in 1996 that a team has won its first seven road games of a postseason, according to MLB.
“Never seen it, I don’t know if it’s ever happened before,” Garver told MLB of the series’ home and away record. “Seems a little odd that nobody is winning at home. I would like for it to stay that way.
“It is interesting with two very passionate fan bases. Playing on the road is not an easy thing to do, but we’ve been doing it all postseason.
“It’s just one of those things, maybe it brings out the best in us. Maybe we rise to the occasion, but it’s been tough. We’re up for the challenge.”
It is only the second time in franchise history that the Rangers have won a potential elimination game – and the first since Game 5 of the 2010 ALDS – with their record now standing at 2-8.
“We didn’t have a choice tonight,” second baseman Marcus Semien told MLB.com. “We had our backs against the wall.
“We did just enough to keep the lead, we got out of some jams and then just a big swing by Adolis. We live to fight another day and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”