With the series now tied at 3 to 3 the series that has seen bench clearing ejections, game changing bombs and numerous nerve racking at bats is now heading towards a historic game seven.
The highly anticipated game seven begins at 5 P.M and baseball fans across the country have many differing opinions and hopes on come out victorious.
Melvin Garcia, a USC junior majoring in economics is rooting for the Rangers to spoil the Astros chances of going back to back.
Garcia: “I’m just rooting for someone else to make it out of the ALCS. So I’m going for the Texas Rangers to make it out. So I was just like, I want to see a little bit more, some more variety and who we see in the championship series. So seeing I see a team like the Rangers that get all the way. I think that’d be a pretty good for the MLB So I’m just really pulling that they, you know, keep their underdog status and probably get in a nice little upset against the Astros.”
The Rangers are looking to reach their first world series since 2011 after a decade of underwhelming play on the diamond.
On the opposite end, the Astros are fighting to become back to back champs as they have been the definition of success of late in the MLB. They have reached the ALCS seven years straight and won the World Series in 2017 and 2022.
The bad blood between the teams has been evident and was on full display in game five when Rangers Adolis Garcia was hit by a Bryan Abreu pitch that veered inside.
Benches cleared and players stormed the field to protect their teammates and it led to Adolis Garcia, Bryan Abreu and Astros Manager Dusty Baker all being ejected.
The Astros would go onto win game five by a clutch Jose Altuve homerun to left field just over the glove of Evan Carter. In game 6 the Rangers would rally back and win in blowout fashion 9-2 thanks to an Adolis Garcia grand slam.
USC graduate Denton Cohen does not have anything against the once heavily hated Astros but would not mind seeing the Rangers be a great underdog story.
Cohen: “Well, I’m not a huge Astros fan, but I will say most of the cheaters are gone now. I’ll always defend Jose Altuve. I don’t think he cheated. So I don’t mind the Astros winning another World Series, but I think I’d rather see the Rangers do it than the Astros.
You know what, I think the Rangers bullpen is going to come through. They’ve been a they’ve been a liability all year. They’ve blown a couple of games in the playoffs. But I think they’re going to come through today.”
For years there has been a rumored curse around the attendance of Senator Ted Cruz at Houston sporting events. With Cruz in attendance Houston has lost many important games including game seven of the 2018 NBA Western Conference Finals.
Cohen: “I think the Texas Rangers are going to win because I think that Ted Cruz is going to go to the game and I think the Cruz curse is going to hit again and they’re going to go to own five on the season when Ted Cruz attends a game.”
The winner of the big game will walk home with the A.L pennant and will face either the Diamondbacks or Phillies in the World Series.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Hunter Deniaud.