The Texas Rangers are headed to the World Series after defeating the reigning champion Houston Astros 11-4 in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series Monday night.
It’s the third World Series appearance for Texas, and their first since back-to-back appearances in 2010 and 2011.
Though the game was played in Houston, Rangers fans flocked to a watch party inside Globe Life Field.
“It means everything to me, you know," said Jordan Contreras, 24. "It’s a childhood dream for me and my brother.”
Contreras was joined at the stadium by his younger brother, 21-year-old Joshua Contreras, who said he's been a Rangers fan for as long as he could throw a baseball.
“It’s an amazing journey,” Contreras said. “We should have had this from Game 4, but it’s OK. We got it at the Game 7, so the dub is all we needed.”
The Rangers put three runs on the board early Monday night, driving Astros starter Cristian Javier out of the game after recording just one out.
Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer, meanwhile, had his own rocky outing. The Texas ace gave up a leadoff double to Astros star José Altuve in the bottom of the first. Altuve then scored on a one-out single from José Abreu, making it 3-1. Scherzer ultimately got out of the inning, but was pulled from the mound later after giving up a home run to Alex Bergman and a triple to Yordan Álvarez, recording just two outs in the bottom of the third.
But the Astros bats struggled to keep up with the Rangers lineup. Adolis García homered in the top of the third inning, extending his home run streak to four games. “El Bombi” also set a new postseason series RBI record, driving in 15 throughout the ALCS.
When it was all said and done, García was chosen as ALCS MVP.
The Rangers slugger was at the center of some drama in the series: In Game 5, García was hit by a 98.8 mph fastball from pitcher Bryan Abreu in what appeared to be retaliation for a home run celebration earlier in the game.
The benches cleared and Abreu was ejected. The Astros pitcher also earned a two-game suspension, scheduled to begin in his next two regular season games.
The delayed suspension meant Abreu was available again Monday for Game 7. He entered in the sixth inning and hit another batter, Mitch Garver. Just a few pitches later, Nathaniel Lowe homered off Abreu with two outs.
Monday’s game was well out of reach later in the eighth inning when García went yard again and extended the lead to 11-3.
The Rangers, who are looking for their first World Series title, open the series at home Friday against the winner of Tuesday’s NL Championship Series Game 7. That game, between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Philadelphia Phillies, starts at 7:07 p.m. CT.
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