Peña’s 18th-inning HR sends Astros past Mariners for sweep

SEATTLE (AP) — Jeremy Peña homered within the 18th inning, and the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 1-0 on Saturday to advance to the AL Championship Sequence for the sixth straight yr.

Peña drove a slider from Penn Murfee deep to left-center for the rookie shortstop’s first playoff homer, offering the one run in a day stuffed with dominant pitching and empty journeys to the plate. The 18 innings matched the longest recreation in playoff historical past.

“Man, that was a protracted recreation. However you continue to obtained to lock in, attempt to put collectively good at-bats,” Peña mentioned. “I used to be simply attempting to remain contained in the baseball, drove it within the hole.”

Spoiling Seattle’s first residence playoff look since 2001, Houston accomplished a three-game sweep of the ALDS. Subsequent up is the New York Yankees or Cleveland Guardians in Sport 1 of the ALCS on Wednesday.

Whereas Yordan Alvarez obtained the massive hits within the first two video games in Houston, it was Peña that set the desk for Alvarez’s alternatives. As Sport 3 made its approach into its sixth hour, Peña delivered one other painful blow to the Mariners that ended their quick return to the postseason.

After 21 years, Seattle followers welcomed playoff baseball again inside T-Cell Park. They obtained their cash’s value, after which some.

Three earlier playoff video games reached the 18th inning earlier than conclusion, one involving Houston. The Astros beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6 in 18 innings in Sport 4 of the 2005 NLDS on Chris Burke’s game-ending homer.

Sport 2 of the 2014 NLDS between San Francisco and Washington and Sport 3 of the 2018 World Sequence between Los Angeles and Boston additionally went 18 innings.

However these video games had runs. This one failed to provide something till Peña’s swing on a 3-2 pitch.

“I really feel like within the playoffs you possibly can’t try to do an excessive amount of, particularly the later the sport goes,” Peña mentioned.

Seattle’s finest scoring likelihood was Julio Rodríguez’s line drive that thudded off the wall within the eighth inning. Seattle had runners in scoring place within the thirteenth and seventeenth, however couldn’t get a key two-out hit towards Houston’s excellent bullpen.

In contrast to baseball’s common season, there isn’t any computerized runner when playoff video games go to additional innings.

Luis Garcia labored 5 innings for the win. The Astros bullpen allowed 5 hits and struck out 15 following six innings from starter Lance McCullers Jr.

“Watching the entire thing the fellows are doing a extremely good job and I’m actually happy with them. … I used to be simply attempting to assist,” Garcia mentioned.

Seattle’s bullpen was practically simply pretty much as good. After rookie George Kirby threw seven innings, 9 Mariners relievers mixed for 11 innings of five-hit ball.

The groups mixed to strike out 42 occasions, topping the postseason report of 39 set by the Guardians and Rays final week of their AL wild-card matchup that was scoreless for 15 innings earlier than Oscar Gonzalez’s residence run despatched Cleveland to the ALDS.

“Their pitching was phenomenal in the present day as effectively. We stored placing the zero up there and stored placing the zero up there and also you suppose we’re going to have the ability to break by means of as a result of we’ve got so many occasions,” Seattle supervisor Scott Servais mentioned. “It’s type of what we’re accustomed to taking part in — these tight video games and discovering a approach however there have been no errors made in that recreation in the present day.”

Houston superior regardless of a tough efficiency for Jose Altuve, who went 0 for 8 in Sport 3 for the primary time in his profession and was hitless in 16 at-bats within the collection.

Altuve joined Xander Bogaerts in Sport 3 of 2018 World Sequence versus the Dodgers as solely gamers to go 0 for 8 or worse in a postseason recreation. However Houston’s different items got here by means of, none greater than its younger shortstop who took on a distinguished position after Carlos Correa departed in free company.

Peña’s homer was his solely hit in eight at-bats. But it surely was his contributions within the first two video games that helped Houston journey to Seattle with a 2-0 lead within the collection.

For Mariners followers, watching the drama play out was an agonizing swing of feelings and nerves for the higher a part of the 6 hours and 22 minutes.

Traces snaked exterior the doorway hours earlier than first pitch. Half the stadium appeared stuffed 90 minutes earlier than Seattle took the sphere and all seats had been occupied when Felix Hernandez walked out from middle discipline to throw out a ceremonial first pitch to a deafening ovation.

The vitality and noise that accompanied 20 years of anticipation was pure exhilaration firstly, however turned increasingly more nervous the longer zeros stayed on the scoreboard. By the point the 14th-inning stretch was celebrated nearing the five-hour mark, these followers had been on the verge of exhaustion and prepared for finality.

It didn’t come till 4 innings later and was a disappointing conclusion after 20 years of ready.

KING RETURNS

Hernandez spent 15 seasons with the Mariners however by no means had the chance of pitching within the postseason. Hernandez gained 169 video games and had a profession 3.42 ERA, final pitching for Seattle in 2019.

SMOKEY AIR

Seattle’s return to the postseason was performed with a smoky haze and horrible air high quality engulfing the Puget Sound area. A shift in winds and wildfire nonetheless smoldering within the Cascade Mountains created a dingy haze above T-Cell Park. The air high quality index in Seattle at first pitch registered at 161.

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