Altuve hits go-ahead homer after benches clear as Astros push Rangers to brink

José Altuve hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning and the Houston Astros, after getting into another bench-clearing scuffle with the Texas Rangers, rallied for a 5-4 victory Friday in a wild and testy Game 5 of the AL Championship Series.

After winning all three matchups at rival Texas in Arlington, the defending World Series champion Astros head back home to Houston needing one win to capture a third consecutive pennant. They lead 3-2 in the best-of-seven playoff going into Game 6 on Sunday night.

Adolis Garcia punctuated his towering three-run homer in the sixth with a slow trot and an empathic spike of his bat after watching the ball clear the wall to give Texas a 4-2 lead.

When the slugger came to bat again with a runner on first in the eighth, Bryan Abreu hit Garcia on the left arm with a pitch. An angry Garcia immediately turned to get in the face of catcher Martin Maldonado — the two also jawed nose-to-nose when Garcia touched home plate after his grand slam in Houston on July 26.

Both benches and bullpens cleared, although it didn’t appear any punches were thrown as the teams gathered and grabbed hold of each other near home plate. Once things settled down, Garcia, Abreu and Astros manager Dusty Baker had been ejected.

Rangers closer Jose Leclerc gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz and walked pinch-hitter Jon Singleton at the bottom of the lineup to begin the Houston ninth. Altuve then pulled an 0-1 changeup over the left-field fence, just beyond the glove of a leaping Evan Carter.

It was the 26th career post-season homer for Altuve, second in major league history behind Manny Ramirez (29). The five-foot-six star second baseman was playing in his 101st post-season game — all with the Astros.

Garcia connected off three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, who took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth before Corey Seager doubled, Carter singled and Garcia homered in a span of three pitches.

Nathaniel Lowe also went deep for the wild-card Rangers, tying it 1-all in the fifth.

But they are 5-0 on the road and have won 19 of their past 22 games away from home overall.

Garcia, the Cuban slugger known as El Bombi, took a couple of slow steps out of the batter’s box after connecting and was about halfway down the baseline when the ball landed in the first row of seats a few feet beyond the left-centre wall. It was his fourth homer this post-season.

That go-ahead homer in the 42nd inning of this series was the first time the home team took the lead at any point through the first five games.

D-backs stun Phillies, tie NLCS

Alek Thomas hit a tying, two-run homer in a three-run eighth inning, Gabriel Moreno followed with a go-ahead single and the Arizona Diamondbacks stunned the Philadelphia Phillies with a 6-5 victory in Phoenix on Friday night that tied the NL Championship Series at two games apiece.

Arizona trailed 5-2 before Orion Kerkering’s bases-loaded walk to Christian Walker with two outs in the seventh.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. doubled leading off the eighth against Craig Kimbrel, who gave up Ketel Marte’s game-ending single in Game 3. Thomas, pinch hitting for Emmanuel Rivera with one out, sent a full-count fastball splashing into the right-centre field swimming pool to tie the score 5-5 as a sellout crowd of 47,806 at Chase Field roared.

Marte singled with two outs, Corbin Carroll was hit by a pitch and Jose Alvarado relieved. Moreno laced a singled to left-centre to drive in the go-ahead run for Arizona.

Kyle Schwarber, whose fourth-inning homer sparked Philadelphia’s comeback from a 2-0 deficit, doubled with two outs in the ninth off Paul Sewald, Arizona’s eighth pitcher. Sewald struck out Trea Turner for his fifth save of the post-season.

Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is Saturday night.

Houston earlier scored three times in the ninth to win 5-4 at Texas and take a 3-2 lead in the AL Championship Series. It was the first time in major league history two teams rallied to win post-season games on the same day after trailing by two runs or more in the eighth inning or later.

Schwarber’s homer was his fourth of this post-season and the 19th of his post-season career, passing Reggie Jackson for most among left-handed batters,

Brandon Marsh’s two-out RBI double tied the score in the fifth, and the Phillies opened a 4-2 lead in the sixth after three straight walks by rookie lefty Andrew Saalfrank.

Alec Bohm followed with a chopper down the third-base line off Ryan Thompson. Rivera gloved the ball with a backhand grab that took him into foul territory and made an off-balance throw home from near the coach’s box. The ball short-hopped Gabriel Moreno and bounced off the catcher as two runs scored, one on the hit and one on the throwing error.

Trea Turner added a seventh-inning sacrifice fly.