Rangers pour it on late with Adolis Garcia's grand slam vs. Astros to force Game 7 in ALCS

HOUSTON — One game after suffering a debilitating loss that left them on the verge of elimination, the Texas Rangers proved they are very much alive.

And come Monday night, they won’t be the only ones playing for their survival.

Led by postseason stalwart Nathan Eovaldi, featuring a redemptive turn from closer Jose Leclerc, and capped by a vengeful blast from brawl-sparking slugger Adolis Garcia, the Rangers bounced back from a gutting Game 5 loss at home to defeat the Houston Astros, 9-2, in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday night at Minute Maid Park.

Monday night: Game 7, for the unofficial Texas state championship and, more significantly, the AL pennant and a ticket to the World Series.

They got there thanks to Eovaldi’s deft start. And Mitch Garver’s home run and RBI double, along with manager Bruce Bochy’s bold maneuvering.

And most notably, they’re still alive thanks to Leclerc putting aside Friday’s brutal failure – giving up a three-run, go-ahead home run to Jose Altuve that put the Rangers in a 3-2 ALCS hole – to carry them to Game 7.

Just like Game 5, Leclerc was summoned in the eighth inning, this time for a five-out save while nursing just a 4-2 lead, and he responded by walking Kyle Tucker to load the bases and sending most of a Minute Maid crowd of 42,368 into a tizzy.

Pitching coach Mike Maddux visited the mound to impart imparted some words of wisdom and calm Leclerc’s heart rate before facing Maurico Dubón, who came in hitting .353 in this ALCS.

It worked: Leclerc largely eschewed his fastball and unleashed his cutter on Dubón and pinch-hitter Jon Singleton, getting Dubón on a soft liner to short.

Singleton, who drew a key Game 5 walk Friday that preceded Altuve’s blast, worked a full count before flailing at a cutter on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, ending the threat.

Leclerc stomped off the mound, screamed, redeemed for the moment.

Garcia provided the delicious, avenging coda.

Hit by a pitch in Game 5 – which umpires and Major League Baseball determined was intentional, earning Astros reliever Bryan Abreu an ejection and pending suspension – Garcia sparked a benches-clearing incident by getting in the face of Astros catcher Martin Maldonado.

He was booed thunderously in his first two plate appearances and struck out to the delight of the crowd. But facing Astros reliever Ryne Stanek with the bases loaded in the ninth, Garcia roped a no-doubt line drive into the Crawford Boxes in left field.

Grand slam. Home run strut. Game over.

But he knows not to get too comfortable: Game 7 is coming.

Here's how Game 6 unfolded on Sunday:

Rangers add insurance run in the eighth, lead 4-2

Mitch Garver, who homered earlier in the game, hit an RBI double in the top of the eighth agaist Bryan Abreu, extending the Texas lead to 4-2. Garver drove in rookie Evan Carter, who led off with an infield single and then stole second.

Nathan Eovaldi holds Astros in check, Rangers up 3-2 through six

HOUSTON – Nathan Eovaldi is giving the Texas Rangers exactly what they needed.

He's pitched six quality innings and left the tying run on base as the Rangers held on to a 3-2 lead through six innings of ALCS Game 6.

With his club facing elimination, Eovaldi kept the Astros off balance with his beguiling pitch mix, coming at them with his four-seam fastball that touched 98 mph, a split-finger fastball that dive-bombed the dirt around home plate and a cutter and curve that kept them off balance.

He gave up singles to Yordan Alvarez and Jose Abreu in the bottom of the sixth, but limited the damage to a Mauricio Dubon sacrifice fly, even as his fastball velocity dipped from the upper 90s to 94. The Rangers still must find nine outs to force a decisive Game 7 Monday night at Minute Maid Park.

Jonah Heim's home run gives Rangers the lead

HOUSTON - The Texas Rangers are not going quietly in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.

Catcher Jonah Heim skied a two-run home run off Framber Valdez with two outs in the top of the fourth inning, giving the Rangers a 3-1 lead in the first game they've faced elimination this year.

Heim's homer came two innings after Mitch Garver tied the score with his own home run. Both sluggers used the same approach, going with Valdez pitches to right field and taking advantage of the cozy dimensions in that corner. Heim's homer traveled just 336 feet, barely eluding the leaping grasp of Houston's Kyle Tucker.

Mitch Garver home run ties things up for Rangers

After Houston took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Mitch Garver led off the top of the second with a solo home run to make it 1-1 against Astros starter Framber Valdez.

Garver had 19 home runs in the regular season and hit one in the ALDS against the Orioles, driving in seven runs in that series.

Yordan Alvarez gives Astros a first-inning lead

Jose Altuve led off the bottom of the first with a single, stole second and came around to score the opening run on Yordan Alvarez's single against Nathan Eovaldi.

Astros' Bryan Abreu appeals suspension, can still pitch in Game 6

HOUSTON — Bryan Abreu, the Houston Astros reliever suspended two games for a wayward pitch in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, isn't going anywhere - for the moment.

Abreu officially appealed his decision, the Astros announced less than an hour before Sunday's Game 6 between the Astros and Texas Rangers and will be available out of Houston's bullpen as they attempt to advance to the World Series.

Houston manager Dusty Baker said Abreu, Major League Baseball and union officials were set to meet at 5 CT, two hours before gametime, where a potential compromise presumably would be discussed.

But both sides apparently held firm: The two-game suspension will stand, Abreu will appeal and MLB rules state that a hearing will be held within 48 hours so that it is not held in abeyance through the playoffs.

"I'm not a lawyer," Baker said Sunday afternoon when asked the potential outcome of the meeting. "Even though my mom wanted me to be a lawyer, that's too much school.

"So it's in the hands of the lawyers."

Abreu was ejected from Friday's Game 5 for hitting Rangers slugger Adolis Garcia with a pitch that umpires ruled was intentionally thrown at the batter; MLB agreed with the assessment and levied a two-game suspension.

If the Astros win Game 6, any upheld suspension would have to be served during the World Series. A Monday hearing conceivably could knock Abreu, the club's talented set-up man, out of a Game 7 should the Rangers win Sunday.

Astros, Rangers lineups, probable pitchers for ALCS Game 6

Texas Rangers

Starting pitcher: RHP Nathan Eovaldi

1. Marcus Semien (R) 2B

2. Corey Seager (L) SS

3. Robbie Grossman (S) LF

4. Adolis Garcia (R) RF

5. Mitch Garver (R) DH

6. Jonah Heim (S) C

7. Nathaniel Lowe (L) 1B

8. Josh Jung (R) 3B

9. Leody Taveras (S) CF

Houston Astros

Starting pitcher: LHP Framber Valdez

1. Jose Altuve (R) 2B

2. Michael Brantley (L) LF

3. Alex Bregman (R) 3B

4. Yordan Alvarez (L) DH

5. Jose Abreu (R) 1B

6. Kyle Tucker (L) RF

7. Mauricio Dubon (R) CF

8. Jeremy Pena (R) SS

9. Martin Maldonado (R)

Will bad blood carry over into ALCS Game 6?

HOUSTON — The Astros were split on whether Adolis Garcia’s aggressive actions toward catcher Martin Maldonado helped spur their comeback in Game 5. At the least, it seemed they kept their heads just a bit better than the Rangers.

The playoffs aren’t the place to settle scores, especially with the umpiring crew on high alert from the get-go. Yet the Rangers facing an elimination game and the Game 5 aftermath will make the tension more palpable.

“Man, I don't know. I don't have no crystal ball,” says Astros manager Dusty Baker, who also was ejected from Game 5. “I mean, it's going to be what it's going to be. You have to wait and see, just like me.

“Like we don't script it, it just happens.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rangers, Adolis Garcia rock Astros late to force Game 7 in ALCS