ARLINGTON — The ball left Jose Altuve’s bat and arced through the Globe Life Field air for four seconds. Evan Carter drifted back to the left-field wall and timed his leap. The effort proved futile. The Astros erupted out of their dugout in euphoria.

With one swing, Altuve altered the course of Game 5 and, perhaps, this American League Championship Series. His three-run home run in Friday’s ninth inning flipped the game in favor of an Astros team down to its final outs and facing a two-run deficit. The Astros preserved the lead to hand the Rangers a 5-4 loss and go ahead 3-2 in this best-of-seven series.

“It’s a guy that thrives in this kind of moment,” closer Ryan Pressly, who recorded the final six outs, said of Altuve. “I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t know how you guys can try to explain it. You guys have seen it just as many times as I have. But it’s just one of those things where it’s like everything is just in slow motion for him.”

The ALCS will shift to Houston with the Astros one win from advancing to the World Series. The Astros must win just once at Minute Maid Park, where their season-long struggles defy logic. Friday marked their ninth win in Texas’ ballpark in 10 meetings this season. In MLB history, teams capturing Game 5 in a best-of-seven series tied 2-2 have gone on to win 46 of 65 times.

This one devolved into drama. Adolis García struck a three-run homer in the sixth that gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead. García came up again in the eighth inning. Bryan Abreu’s 99 mph fastball ran inside and hit him. García squared up right away to catcher Martín Maldonado, who shook his head. Both benches and bullpens cleared. García had to be separated from the fray.

It echoed a July 26 game in Houston. Benches cleared then, too, after García hit a grand slam. Carryover did not appear in the teams’ final regular-season series or the first four games of this ALCS. García, who spiked his bat after his home run against Justin Verlander, evidently felt the Astros retaliated. Abreu and García were ejected. Astros manager Dusty Baker, livid at the decision with Abreu, was also ejected.

“I think that’s what got us going,” center fielder Mauricio Dubón said. “Pressly came in and shut the door and gave us a chance to come back and have Altuve hit the big home run.”

The delay forced Texas closer José Leclerc, who had notched one out in the eighth, to wait longer for the top of the ninth. Pinch hitter Yainer Diaz struck a leadoff single. Jon Singleton, in his first appearance since Oct. 1, drew a walk in a full count. It brought up Altuve with the potential tying run on first base.

Altuve took a slider for a called first strike. Leclerc tried a changeup. Altuve golfed the low pitch 382 feet out to left field. As his teammates exulted, Altuve rounded the bases deliberately. He crossed home and met the men he had just driven in with a serious nod.

“It was a cool moment,” Altuve said. “And because we ended up winning.”

“This dude is one of the baddest dudes I’ve ever seen,” Baker said. “And I’ve seen some greats.”

Pressly, who had replaced Abreu and recorded all three outs in the eighth, still needed to notch three more in the ninth. Mitch Garver greeted him with a leadoff single. Jonah Heim struck a single to move pinch runner Josh Smith to second.

Marcus Semien stung a line drive. Shortstop Grae Kessinger, who had pinch-run for Singleton, caught it on a leap. Corey Seager sent a fly out to deep center. Pressly threw a 2-2 curveball that Carter could not resist or make contact with. The 24th pitch from Pressly put Houston one win from a return to the World Series.

“It was an incredible game,” third baseman Alex Bregman said.

Visitors claimed this series’ first five games. The Astros carried confidence into Friday from two straight wins and their ace toeing the mound. Bregman gave them a lead three hitters into the game with a solo home run off Jordan Montgomery. Verlander blanked the Rangers until the fifth.

Nathaniel Lowe’s solo homer tied the game. Verlander returned to the mound for the sixth. The top of Texas’ lineup loomed for a third time. The 1-2 punch of Semien and Seager has struggled in this series. No reliever warmed in Houston’s bullpen as Verlander began the inning. Semien popped out. Seager lined a slider to right field for a double. Carter singled on Verlander’s next pitch, spurring action.

Hector Neris began to warm as pitching coach Josh Miller walked to the mound. His visit proved a mere delay. Verlander’s first pitch after it was a 95 mph fastball. García hit a soaring drive at 108 mph off the bat and 396 feet into the left-field seats. The cleanup hitter strutted toward first base and fired his bat to the ground. Verlander said he saw no correlation to the eighth-inning events.

“Given the situation, I think it’s pretty clear that there’s no intent there,” Verlander said of García’s hit-by-pitch. “I understand Major League Baseball is trying to take away the hit-by-pitch and pitchers and teams policing the game the way it used to be done. … But I even understand Adolis’ reaction. No, I don’t think anybody is mad about him pimping a homer. It was the biggest homer in his career, quite honestly.”

A crowd of 41,519 at Globe Life Field erupted with the energy generated by a rare advantage. It gave Texas the first lead by a home team in 41 innings in the ALCS. That is the longest stretch without the home team leading in an MLB playoff series, per Elias, eclipsing the previous record of 38 innings in the 2001 ALDS between the Yankees and A’s.

It left the Astros still with three chances against a Texas bullpen embattled all year. Maldonado drew a leadoff walk from Josh Sborz in the seventh. The catcher clapped toward his dugout as he went to first. The top of his lineup could not score him. Altuve stung a drive to left field that would have been a home run in 12 of 30 major league ballparks, per Statcast. Globe Life Field held it.

Texas turned to Aroldis Chapman for the eighth and the Astros’ lefthanded sluggers. Yordan Alvarez struck out swinging at a 101 mph fastball. José Abreu flied out. A double by Kyle Tucker spurred Rangers manager Bruce Bochy to summon his closer. Leclerc retired Michael Brantley on a popup but had to wait through the bottom of the eighth before retaking the mound.

“I was concerned about that delay. I really was,” Bochy said. “It was a long one. It was taking too long, to be honest. The whole thing is a bunch of crap, to be honest, what happened there. Who knows what intentions are, but it’s not the first time it’s happened and couldn’t get the game going again. And I’m sure it affected (Leclerc).”

Houston could not hold a pair of slim leads. Montgomery, who worked 6 1/3 scoreless innings in Game 1, left a 1-1 sinker up to Bregman, his third batter, who drove it 416 feet into the left-field seats. It marked the longest home run hit by Bregman this year. Montgomery retired 10 of his next 11 hitters to hold the Astros without another run until the sixth, locking horns with Verlander.

Verlander attacked the Rangers with fastballs. He threw 25 on 35 pitches in his first three innings. Texas hitters put seven into play, six for outs. Semien and Seager popped out on elevated fastballs in the first inning. Carter whiffed on one to end the frame.

Verlander set down his first seven in a row. A one-out walk to Garver snapped that streak. Heim singled to send Garver to third and bring up the top of Texas’ lineup. Two pitches dispatched it. Verlander reached back for another tick of velocity. An elevated fastball at 96 mph induced a popup by Semien. Seager skied a 97 mph fastball into left field. Chas McCormick settled under it for a routine play.

“I thought it was a pretty significant step forward for me,” Verlander said. “I thought I pitched pretty well. But you’ve got to make better pitches in big situations. … Obviously, an outstanding lineup, and they really battled me. But a couple of pitches there that I would like to have back.”

Days when Verlander simply overpowered hitters are largely in the past. This season, his fastball averaged its lowest velocity since 2016. In Game 1, he threw more sliders and curveballs than he did fastballs to hold the Rangers to two runs in 6 2/3 innings. Friday offered a flashback.

Verlander blinked in the fifth. Lowe hit .220 and slugged .331 on fastballs 95 mph and above this season. He saw two elevated fastballs in his first at-bat and flied out. Verlander fed him five more in the fifth. Lowe hit the last for an opposite-field home run, tying the game at 1.

Abreu’s single in the sixth gave the Astros another one-run lead that proved short-lived. Altuve rescued them with the ninth go-ahead home run in MLB postseason history by a player whose team trailed in the ninth inning.

“That was a huge, huge victory,” Baker said. “This will go down in history.”