(Houston) Adolis Garcia hit two homers and drove in five runs as the Texas Rangers advanced to the World Series with a convincing 11-4 victory over the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the series. American League championship, Monday.
Garcia hit a ball out of bounds in a fourth straight game and set a major league baseball record with 15 RBIs in a playoff series.
Corey Seager opened the scoring for the Rangers with a long ball in the first inning. Nathaniel Lowe also homered to give the Rangers – one of six major league teams without a title – their first appearance in the Grand Final since their two appearances in a row in 2010 and 2011.
After winning their all-Texas duel, the Rangers will begin the World Series at home on Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks or the Philadelphia Phillies. These two clubs will play the decisive match of the National championship series on Tuesday evening.
Bruce Bochy, who came out of retirement this season to manage the Rangers, became the first manager to win a championship series with three different teams after doing so with the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants.
The Astros were trying to defend their title won last year. No team has won two World Series since the New York Yankees, who triumphed from 1998 to 2000.
The Rangers are perfect in eight road games since the start of the playoffs.
Rangers starter Max Scherzer did not shine in this meeting. He allowed two runs, four hits and two walks in two and two-thirds innings. But the Rangers took advantage of a difficult outing from Cristian Javier to win.
Javier had given up three runs, four hits and a free pass when he was removed from the game after just one out. This is Javier’s first career loss in the playoffs.
Reliever Bryan Abreu was able to participate in the game even though his two-game suspension was upheld on appeal earlier Monday. He was sent to the mound for the sixth inning, giving up two runs on a Lowe homer.
The suspension was to punish a retaliatory pitch that hit Adolis Garcia in the eighth inning of Game 5. Both shelters then emptied, causing a 12-minute delay. It will apply at the start of the next season.