CHICAGO (AP) – Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman they did it again.
Guided by their proven figures in October, the Houston Astros will contest the American League Championship Series for the fifth consecutive year.
Altuve hit a three-run homer, scored four times and stole a base, as Houston beat the Chicago White Sox 10-1 on Tuesday night, eliminated in Game 4 of the divisional series.
“We don’t get tired of this,” Correa said. “These are special moments, and we usually reach our best when October rolls around.”
Both the Puerto Rican and Bregman hit two-run doubles, and the Astros finished the series, a mission they couldn’t accomplish Sunday when they fell 12-6.
On Tuesday, they did it with their usual good baseball formula. Michael Brantley he had three hits and drove in a pair of runs.
On Friday, Altuve and company will play the first game of the championship series against their former bench coach Álex Cora, current manager of the Boston Red Sox, who eliminated Tampa Bay Rays on Monday in the fourth game of the series.
“They know how to play,” Altuve said. “They’ve been to the playoffs before, so it’s going to be fun.”
That first meeting will take place in Houston.
It will be Houston’s second championship series under manager Dusty Baker, 72, who outmatched Tony La Russa, 77.
Baker replaced AJ Hinch, who was fired after the Astros’ signal theft scandal, which also led to a one-year suspension for Cora.
Enraged, La Russa got into an argument with umpire Tom Hallion. The pilot claimed that the reliever Kendall Graveman had apparently intentionally struck Jose Abreu, the MVP of last year in the American League, when there were two outs in the eighth inning.
Cuban Abreu had 22 hits in the regular season.
“There is a decision that requires character, and they should answer for it,” La Russa said. “It’s kind of stupid too. I’d be interested to see if they accept it. If not, they will be very dishonest.”
Baker, who has had friction with La Russa on other occasions, denied that his pitcher had intentionally sought to hit Abreu.
“There was no reason we wanted to hit him,” Baker said. “He hadn’t done anything to us.”
Gavin sheets hit a home run for Chicago. He is the third rookie in franchise history to hit a home run in a postseason game.
Nevertheless, Carlos Rodon he was beaten in the third inning of what was his first start since Sept. 29, and the Central Division monarchs stranded eight runners on the trails.
The White Sox were also eliminated in the first round of the 2020 playoffs, when they lost two of the three series games at Oakland Athletics. Before this year, the franchise had never advanced to the playoffs in consecutive years.
For the Astros, the Venezuelan Altuve 5-3 with four runs scored and three produced. The Cubans Yordan alvarez from 3-0, Yuli gurriel from 5-2. Puerto Ricans Correa 4-2 with two RBIs, Martin Maldonado 4-1 with a run scored and a RBI.
For the White Sox, the Cubans Yoán Moncada from 4-1, Louis robert 3-1, Abreu 2-0, Yasmani grandal of 4-1. Dominicans Eloy Jimenez from 4-1, Leury Garcia from 3-0. The Venezuelan Cesar Hernandez from 3-1.