It all comes down to this, Game 7 of the Lone Star themed 2023 American League Championship Series (ALCS) between the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers. The best-of-seven in which the home team has yet to win now reaches its final 27 outs, with the question of who will represent the AL and the state of Texas in the World Series to be finally answered.
"Rest up baseball fans, [Monday] is going to be fun," Major League Baseball (MLB) said in a post on X on Oct. 22 after the Rangers swatted their way to a much-needed, season-saving 9-2 win over the Astros to force Game 7.
Game 6 was very important to both division and intrastate rivals Houston and Texas. The Astros needed to vanquish the Rangers one last time this year to continue their title defense whereas Texas had to win to extend the series, as well as their best season in quite some time. According to a report from ESPN, outfielder Adolis Garcia played the role of hero for the Rangers when his ninth-inning grand slam ensured his team would play another game in what has shaped into an intense postseason round.
Garcia’s missile that broke the hearts of Astros fans was the counter to Jose Altuve’s go-ahead homerun (HR) in Game 5 that sent Rangers fans home dejected. Both plays simply set the course for the titanic matchup for the pennant on Oct. 19. The Astros look to collect their fifth AL crown since joining moving in from the National League (NL) in 2013 while the Rangers want to add their third and first since 2011. ESPN reported that the starters from Game 3 – the Astros’ Cristian Javier and the Rangers’ Max Scherzer – will both take the bump for Game 7.
While the Astros and the Rangers square off for AL and Texas supremacy in one last game, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks meet in the sixth game of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) about 1,500 miles to the east in the City of Brotherly Love. Holding the series lead, the Phillies hope to eliminate Arizona and return to the World Series while the latter hope to emulate the Rangers and prompt Game 7. Per a report from MLB, it’ll be the first time since 2020 Games 6 and 7 of the LCS fell on the same day. First pitch for Game 7 is at 7 p.m.