'Nothing else to do but win': Astros in 2-0 ALCS hole

HOUSTON -- A disastrous start by left-hander Framber Valdez put the Astros in comeback mode from the jump Monday afternoon, and not even another big day at the plate from slugger Yordan Alvarez was enough to rescue the defending World Series champions in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.

Despite a pair of homers from Alvarez and a solo homer from Alex Bregman, the Astros couldn’t overcome Valdez giving up five runs in 2 2/3 innings, including four in the first, and fell to the Rangers, 5-4, at Minute Maid Park. The Rangers lead the best-of-seven series, 2-0, heading back to Arlington.

“I think we’re playing a really good ball team,” Alvarez said. “They’re showing that in the playoffs, and we have nothing else to do but win in Texas.”

• For Astros, there's no place like ... the road?

The bad news for the Astros? No team in franchise history has lost the first two games of a playoff series and advanced. The good news for the Astros? They’ve won 16 of their last 19 away from home, including a dominating three-game sweep of the Rangers at Globe Life Field last month.

“The good thing is we play a little better on the road and we played well at that stadium,” outfielder Chas McCormick said. “We’ve got to win two out of three going over there. It’s do or die at this point, and we’ve got to play with some urgency. We have been playing with urgency, but we need to capitalize a little more. I don’t think we’ve been capitalizing on our chances to take the lead.”

Teams taking a 2-0 lead in all best-of-seven postseason series have gone on to win that series 75 of 89 times (84%). While 14 teams have rallied in these situations, only two have done so in the past 26 years: the 2020 Dodgers in the NLCS against the Braves and the 2004 Red Sox against the Yankees in the ALCS (down 3-0).

In series with the current 2-3-2 format, 26 of 29 teams (90%) to take Games 1-2 on the road have gone on to win, with the only three exceptions occurring in the World Series: the 1996 Yankees (vs. Braves), 1986 Mets (vs. Red Sox) and 1985 Royals (vs. Cardinals).

Alvarez, who missed the pregame inductions prior to Game 1 because he had a virus, slugged a pair of solo homers -- his second multihomer game of the postseason. His second homer, in the eighth inning off Aroldis Chapman, cut the Texas lead to 5-4, but the Astros couldn’t finish the comeback.

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“We couldn’t seem to get back to tie the game, but over the course of the last however many years, you learn just to focus on the next pitch and continue to try and win the next one,” Bregman said. “Obviously, the first two games haven’t gone great. They got a heck of a ballclub over there, and you just keep playing baseball.”

The Astros were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, with four of those at-bats coming in the fifth inning. They loaded the bases with no outs against Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi, who did a masterful job escaping the jam. He struck out pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz and Jose Altuve before getting Bregman to ground out.

“It's very disappointing,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “But the guys up there are doing their damnedest to push those runs across. And Eovaldi made some quality pitches after we had him in trouble. Like I said before, the name of the game is RBIs. So we just didn't push those runs across.”

Valdez allowed singles on the first two pitches he threw before he bobbled a Robbie Grossman tapper and then threw the ball wildly to first base, which opened the door for the Rangers to bat around and score four runs.

“I said to myself, ‘I’m just going to get an out there,’ and the play sped up on me a little bit,” Valdez said. “I closed the glove before I needed to.”

The Astros’ bullpen was forced to cover 6 1/3 innings and proved to be up to the challenge, led by Rafael Montero (1 1/3 scoreless innings) and J.P. France (2 1/3 scoreless innings). The relievers kept the game close, but Houston’s inability to score runs in bunches or get clutch hits at home remained an issue.

“We’ll never quit. We’re a great team,” McCormick said. “We've had chances to win these past two nights. We could easily be up 2-0, but they’re up 2-0. We’ve gotta get out of this hole and find a way to win Game 3.”