From the moment I received my foldable clapper and walked through the outdoor “street-fest,” everything felt different. I’ve been to Minute Maid Park many times in my life, as it’s the closest Major League Baseball stadium to San Antonio, but never have I seen it like I did on Saturday for game two of the American League Championship Series.
This was my first ever ALCS game. The only other playoff game I’ve ever been to was the 2012 Wild Card game when the Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers in Arlington. It’s incredible how different the stadium felt even just walking around the concourse. It took awhile to reach our seats because so many people crowded the concourse. Once we did make it to our seats, Justin Verlander came out right in front of our section to warm-up for his critical start. As game-time approached, Minute Maid Park began to fill up and got louder by the minute.
Verlander shutdown the Yankees from the get-go. All fans were given “K” cards to hold up after a strikeout, and Verlander made sure to give fans a workout holding those signs up after his 13 strikeouts. In the 4th inning, Carlos Correa broke the scoreless tie with a home run, igniting the “Juice Box.” The lead didn’t last, however, as the Yankees tied the score at one in the 5th inning. From there, every pitch felt like it would decide the game, and the crowd seemed to carry the Astros along. Whenever a Yankee at-bat reached two strikes, all 43,193 fans rose as one to rattle the Yankees. Although Verlander dominated, every scoreless inning began to get more tense. After the 8th inning, no one knew who would pitch the 9th for the Astros. Then, as the team took the field, Verlander sprinted out of the dugout and onto the mound, prompting a standing ovation from the sold out crowd.
After 124 pitches and nine innings, Verlander did everything he could for the Astros and left it up to the offense to win the game. With a tied game heading to the bottom of the 9th, in came the flame-throwing lefty Aroldis Chapman. He retired the first batter, but then Jose Altuve jumped on the first pitch and lined a single to center field, once again bringing the crowd to its feet and Carlos Correa to the plate. Correa took the count full, and I wondered if Altuve would take off on the pitch to get a head-start in case of a hit to the outfield. He didn’t take off, but that’s when Correa smacked the ball to the right center field gap and Altuve was off to the races. Aaron Judge did a great job cutting the ball off before the wall and got the ball back to the infield quickly, so I for sure thought there’d be runners on second and third with one out, but Altuve had other thoughts.
As Didi Gregorius got the ball at second base, Altuve rounded third and headed for home. The throw clearly beat Altuve by a mile, but catcher Gary Sanchez couldn’t handle it, so Altuve was safe and the Astros won the game! At that moment the sea of orange erupted into a frenzy. Everyone jumped all around high-fiving each other, fireworks went off and the train in left field blared its horn, but it was so loud I could barely even hear the train. It was the most thrilling moment I had ever experienced in my life. The Houston Astros now sat just two wins away from the World Series, and the city was electrified.
I’m so glad I got to enjoy such a historic moment. Although I’m an extremely passionate and loyal Orioles fan and will forever bleed orange and black, I did what any true Orioles fan would do, and that’s root against the New York Yankees. It’s sad that the Orioles weren’t able to make the playoffs, but with the Astros facing the Red Sox and now the Yankees, it’s easy to want them to win. Also, I was fortunate enough to interview Jose Altuve, George Springer and A.J. Hinch as a Sports Illustrated Kids Kid Reporter in 2015, so it’s great to see them do well because they truly are amazing people. Lastly, as someone who loves baseball and loves ballparks, game two at Minute Maid Park is a moment I’ll remember forever.