ALDS Game 5 Preview: Houston Astros at Kansas City Royals

They couldn’t provide the knockout punch, however.

Correa couldn’t handle a deflected grounder that might have been a double-play ball, helping the Royals rally for five runs in the eighth inning.

Led by rookies Carlos Correa (two home runs, four RBI) and starting pitcher Lance McCullers (two runs on two hits, two walks and seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings), the Astros appeared to be on their way to the American League Championship Series after taking a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh.

“Hopefully we can just keep this riding into Game 5”, said Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer, who broke out his postseason slump with two hits, including a home run, and three RBIs on Monday. McHugh gave up two runs in six innings to earn a win in Game 1 of the ALDS.

“You have confidence that sooner or later they’re going to put together a few hits, they’re going to put a few runs on the board”, said manager Ned Yost, whose Royals will host Game 5 on Wednesday night.

It wasn’t enough to send the Astros to the ALCS, however. If not for Salvador Perez launching a two run home run, the Royals would have seemed as lifeless as a C-Span rerun. It was a huge relief for the team, as he broke its streak of 22 hitless at-bats with runners in scoring position, per ESPN Stats & Information, which also noted Perez became the first catcher in Royals history with two home runs in one postseason. Evan Gattis and Carlos Gomez followed with singles, and the Royals season appeared to be in serious peril.

Correa took over from there, as his solo home run and RBI double gave the Astros a one-run lead. But reviews showed that he came off the bag while the tag was being applied, and the call was overturned.

Before the eighth inning Monday afternoon, the series momentum appeared to be on Houston’s side.

Meanwhile, the Astros embarked on a dumpster-fire finish while the Royals roared back to life with a few of the magic that defined their run to the World Series previous year. This squad snuck up on everyone in producing 729 runs during the regular season with 230 homeruns. It took a high hop in front of Correa, and his glove barely tipped it before the ball went over his head into center field.

And the Royals weren’t done there. Hosmer launched a long, two-run homer in the ninth for insurance. Game 5 is also on Wednesday in Toronto. “They don’t need to be told that Game 5’s a big game”, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. The premature tweet could have jinxed the Astros, because the Royals surged in a wild comeback, clutching the game with a 9-6 victory. Instead, he watched as his club placed eight men on base to take a 7-6 lead. Having come over from the National League in July, after being traded from the Cincinnati Reds, Cueto has little experience facing these Houston hitters so it’ll be interesting to see if they have the same success against him they enjoyed in Game 2. Again, like they do.