Home Baseball ‘Choke job as usual,’ exclaimed Texas Rangers fans after their club gave away a late lead during Game 5 in Arlington

‘Choke job as usual,’ exclaimed Texas Rangers fans after their club gave away a late lead during Game 5 in Arlington

Baseball — 10/21/2023

On October 20, the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros attempted to end their respective clubs’ 2-2 deadlock series. A game for the ages results.

The Texas Rangers could not hold on to their lead in Game 5

The weaponry of each team was on full display. But Jose Altuve’s late-inning home run sealed the Astros’ victory and brought Rangers fans an especially bittersweet conclusion. With their third straight victory, the Astros improved to 5-4 and established a 3-2 series lead.

Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros opened the scoring with a single home run off Jordan Montgomery in the first inning. For the next four innings, neither team scored any runs as they played extremely tight defense.

Nathaniel Lowe drove Justin Verlander 380 feet to leave in the fifth inning to put the Rangers back on the scoreboard. But it wasn’t long before Jose Abreu’s RBI single in the sixth inning gave the Astros another lead.

MLB fans stunned by Jose Altuve's clutch 3-run homer that seals the win for Astros in game 5: "Put him in the HOF"

At the bottom of the sixth inning, the noise level at Globe Life Field reached an extreme level. At that moment, Verlander was tagged for a three-run home run by Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia, giving the Astros a 4-2 lead and giving many supporters hope that the Texas Rangers would take back the series.

After Bryan Abreu drilled Adolis Garcia in the ninth, there was a bench-clearing brawl. Both Abreu and Dusty Baker, the manager of the Astros, were ejected as a result of the incident.

But it didn’t happen. The second baseman for the Houston Astros crushed a fastball thrown by Texas Rangers reliever Jose LeClerc. The Rangers fans had to accept the reality of the situation when Altuve hit his third home run of the postseason, bringing the enthusiasm in the park to an abrupt stop. With a save with three outs, Ryan Pressly was able to finish.

The Astros can guarantee their spot in the World Series with one more victory over the Texas Rangers.

MLB fans stunned by Jose Altuve's clutch 3-run homer that seals the win for Astros in game 5: "Put him in the HOF"

The Texas Rangers’ fortunes have changed drastically following a terrible home stretch.

Houston rallied in the final days of the season to win the division, despite leading the Astros in the AL West for almost the whole time. The Rangers are now facing elimination after defeating two of the AL’s top clubs, the Rays and Baltimore Orioles.

The Rangers were leading the playoffs and had not lost a game when the two teams returned to Arlington before Game 3. Even after such a remarkable 2023 season, it seems more likely the Texans will have to wait for their chance at the World Series after losing three straight games against the Astros.