HOUSTON — The boos rained down like a sea of arrows as the most hated man in Houston stepped to the plate. For Houston Astros fans, it was finally their turn to unleash vitriol on an opponent. In Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, that opponent’s name was Adolis García.
This was the outfielder who hit that mighty home run in Game 5, who had spiked his bat and then sashayed around the bases, the man who was later plunked with a pitch in the eighth inning, who immediately turned and jawed with catcher Martín Maldonado, who contributed to players leaping over the dugout railings and all hell breaking loose.
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And for eight innings Sunday at Minute Maid Park, the opposing fans let him know how they felt. Astros relief pitcher Bryan Abreu, the right-hander who hit García with a first-pitch fastball, was appealing a two-game suspension. A budding rivalry turned straight to rancor. García heard it all night, the booooos barely diminishing even upon his fifth trip to the plate. The first four at-bats had been abhorrent. He chased pitches high, low and outside. He coiled up for heavy hacks and caught nothing but air. He punched out four times as the Astros’ fan base frolicked in the midst of his misery.
Then came that fifth at-bat.
“I think that’s baseball justice at its finest right there,” catcher Jonah Heim would say after it was all over.
They don’t boo nobodies. #GoAndTakeIt pic.twitter.com/w79YYtoN4Y
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) October 23, 2023
The score was 5-2. The Texas Rangers’ distressed bullpen was again in a wrestling match with heartbreak, narrowly escaping disaster in the bottom of the eighth. García came to bat with the bases loaded and only one out. Houston reliever Ryne Stanek threw a 1-1 fastball letter-high and down the middle. A hitter who deposited balls out of ballparks 39 times in the regular season and four more times already in these playoffs unleashed his bat’s barrel on the ball. Stanek whipped his body around after García made contact. The pitcher’s long hair swished with his wind. The ball left the park on a line, crashing into the Crawford Boxes and changing the complexion of the scoreboard. García’s grand slam meant this game was all but over.
“Just a crazy night for him, I’m sure, being booed all night, and then he connected,” second baseman Marcus Semien said. “I was waiting for him to connect all night because he was definitely swinging pretty hard.”
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García is well known for displaying his emotions. This time he walked slowly for a few steps to admire his ball. But there was no demonstrative bat flip. He did not stomp on home plate. He pointed his index finger to the sky but otherwise let his bat do the talking. García did not even speak with reporters postgame. Instead, his teammates spoke for him.
“I think he’s built for the big moment,” Semien said.
For all the talk of flushing the emotions of Game 5, of treating Game 6 like a new day, it was always foolish to believe the players on the field would not carry Friday night’s theatrics with them. You can blame García or you can blame Abreu or you can choose not to care. Those in the Rangers’ clubhouse have their loyalties. They could only do so much to ignore the boos that befell one of their most popular teammates.
“I’ve never played outfield,” Semien said. “I know they get yelled at all night. I’m sure it was crazy. At the plate, that’s part of it. It’s the ALCS. Houston Astros fans have been here. They’re trying to do everything they can to get in our heads. But great swing by him to quiet everyone down.”
García was far from the only storyline in a game that felt much closer than the final 9-2 score indicated. Nathan Eovaldi continued his run of postseason dominance over 6 1/3 innings. The Texas bullpen held strong, called upon for the final eight outs. Designated hitter Mitch Garver had three hits, including a home run, and Heim went deep, as well. The Rangers played with their playoff lives on the line and forced a Game 7.
“It’s intense,” said manager Bruce Bochy, who raised his arms in the air after García’s home run. “There’s no getting around it. People ask you, ‘Are you having fun?’ Yeah, it’s fun, you try to enjoy it, but it’s intense out there. That’s what I came back for, to be in this situation.”
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So much happened in a short time Sunday. García, though, was the player it seemed everyone was most eager to talk about in the clubhouse after the game. Even as the man himself remained out of sight, even as Rangers staffers announced he would not talk to the media, his name came up in every conversation.
“They don’t boo nobodies, I think is the saying,” first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said. “For him to show up here and get this kind of adversity from this fan base, it’s fitting. But good players respond, and he responded.”
On the evening of Game 6, two days removed from an instant classic, Reggie Jackson — “Mr. October” himself and now an Astros adviser — watched from behind the cage as Jose Altuve took pregame hacks. He stood and chatted with Bochy, a three-time World Series champion.
There was a certain aura in the building, watching postseason mythology take shape in real-time. Altuve further solidified his October legend status in Game 5. Sunday night in game 6, Eovaldi did it again.
And with these latest two home runs and all the drama between them, García is in the midst of his own playoff run to remember.
“They’re booing him all game, and he kind of puts the game on ice,” Heim said. “I don’t know how you can boo somebody for getting hit, but it is what it is. He kind of quieted them pretty quick there.”
GO DEEPER
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GO DEEPER
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(Top photo: Rob Carr / Getty Images)