Altuve’s Walk-Off HR Sends Astros to World Series

Jose Altuve. Photo by Peter Joneleit/CSM/REX/Shutterstock (9052984x)

The Astros did not want the ALCS to go to a Game 7 and Jose Altuve made sure of it. With one swing of the bat off of flamethrower Aroldis Chapman, Altuve sent the Astros swarming on to the field, and had Houston celebrating their 2nd World Series appearance in 3 years.

Yuli Gurriel put the Astros up 3-0 in the first inning on a 3 run homer and Brad Peacock made history by becoming the first pitcher since 1924 to pitch the last inning of a playoff game and start another one the next day.

The Yankees scored 2 runs and were stopped from scoring thanks to an incredible diving catch by Michael Brantley who doubled up Aaron Judge at first. The game headed to the 9th with the Astros up 4-2 and Houston on the brink of a celebration.

In the top of the 9th, DJ Lemahieu tied the game on a 2 run shot off of Roberto Osuna that stunned the Houston dugout, but Altuve wasn’t going to let the game go into extras.

In the bottom of the 9th, Altuve crushed a slider off of Chapman deep into the left-field seats that sent the Houston crowd into a frenzy. It was only fitting that Altuve, the longest-tenured Astro, the face of the franchise who saw three 100 loss seasons in a row, would be the one to send them off to the World Series.

Now that the ALCS doesn’t have to go to Game 7, Houston can line up their rotation exactly how they planned, starting Gerrit Cole in Game 1 followed by Justin Verlander and Zach Greinke in games 2 and 3.

Shmuel grew up in Pittsburgh during the rough times of the Pirate's streak of 20 losing seasons. In between baseball, football, and going to school, his passion is finding the most interesting weekend hikes and getaways.