This is what you want, assuming you’re not a fan of the Houston Astros or Texas Rangers. For them, this is brutal, excruciating. For the rest of us, it’s thrilling.
Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. Do or die. Win or go home.
These in-state, divisional rivals ended up with the same record in the regular season – 90-72 – and the American League West title came down to the tiebreaker, which the Astros claimed by going 9-4 against the Rangers head-to-head this year.
In the ALCS, they’ve battled through six intense games, and are knotted at 3-3, with the road team winning all six. Although two of the contests ended up as blowouts, the Astros outscored the Rangers 29-28 total in the six games so far.
Yes, it’s been that even. That exciting. And now it comes down to Monday night.
Someone is going to step up, be the hero, forever be remembered in Lone Star State baseball lore. Here are seven individuals who could make the biggest difference in which team wins Game 7 and advances to the World Series.
RHP Max Scherzer, Texas Rangers
This storyline is so intriguing. Scherzer is one of the best pitchers and fiercest competitors of his generation. A three-time Cy Young Award winner, Scherzer is a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer. But he is also 39, posted his highest ERA in a decade (3.77), and missed a month at the end of the season due to a muscle strain near his throwing shoulder.
He returned in Game 3 and didn’t pitch well, allowing five runs in four innings. But it appeared to be primarily rust. His velocity was good, and he threw two-thirds of his pitches for strikes. He just lacked command and left several pitches over the plate that were whacked by a good Astros offense. If he can’t command his breaking pitches in Game 7, he’ll be removed quickly.
It’s all-hands-on deck and Rangers manager Bruce Bochy won’t get wistful; the leash will be short. Scherzer is on the mound to win, and I wouldn’t bet against him. He’s literally been in this position before, pitching Game 7 (of the World Series) in Houston in 2019, and Scherzer’s Washington Nationals won that one.
Related: Max Scherzer didn’t help Texas Rangers in Game 3, but he’ll be better next time
RHP Cristian Javier, Houston Astros
The easy narrative from a starting pitcher perspective is Scherzer, and whether he still can be a big-game pitcher. Javier, however, is the opposite. He is building his reputation as a postseason phenom. The 26-year-old has pitched in 16 postseason games, making four starts. In those four, dating back to the 2022 ALCS, he has allowed five hits and two runs in 22 innings while striking out 26 batters.
He won the Game 3 matchup against Scherzer, and another dominating performance will continue Javier’s ascent as one of the nastiest young postseason performers in the game.
2B Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
What more needs to be written here? We’re all kind of expecting Altuve to do something special in Game 7, right? Nobody on the field is smaller, but no one rises higher when the lights are brightest than Altuve, whose 26 homers are second-most all-time in the postseason.
His blast in Game 5 was his third career go-ahead homer in the ninth or later, the most in postseason history. And even if he doesn’t homer, you expect him to cross the plate at some point. He has scored an incredible 87 runs in 102 postseason games, second behind only Hall-of-Famer Derek Jeter, who scored 111 in 158 playoff appearances.
Shortstop Corey Seager, Texas Rangers
He had the best season of any player in the American League not named Shohei. He was 5-for-8 in the Rangers’ two-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays in the wild card series and walked nine times and homered once for an incredible 1.567 OPS in their three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in the ALDS.
The 29-year-old superstar has been basically non-existent in the ALCS, with five hits and five strikeouts in 27 plate appearances against the Astros. He’s in his prime, and he carried the Los Angeles Dodgers to a title in 2020. It’s Seager’s time to step up again.
RHP José Leclerc, Texas Rangers
One of the more interesting stories of this postseason, Leclerc bounced back from 2022 injury and wasn’t a big factor for the Rangers early. But he’s become the team’s closer in the last month and has pitched in all but two of Texas’ nine postseason games. Leclerc had allowed just one run in 7 2/3 innings before giving up Altuve’s three-run homer in the ninth inning Friday.
He rebounded from that crushing blow by getting two key outs to wiggle out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth Sunday. When the Rangers scored five in the top of the ninth, Bochy pulled Leclerc, so he would have him available for Game 7. Given the Rangers’ spotty bullpen, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Leclerc is asked to get four or five outs tonight.
RHP Ryan Pressly, Houston Astros
Now, to the other closer. This will be a bullpen game at some point, and that means Pressly will enter, whether to close out a victory or to get the highest-leverage outs. He’s been tremendous this postseason, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out 10 in six scoreless innings. He has saved three of the Astros’ six wins and had six saves in last year’s postseason, including two in the World Series. Nothing is more comforting than a closer who has been there when the season is on the line.
Manager Bruce Bochy, Texas Rangers
This is no shot at Houston manager Dusty Baker, who won his first World Series as a manager in 2022 and has had a tremendous career. But Bochy Magic in the postseason is real. He seemingly pushes the right buttons at the right times and has made some excellent calls during this postseason.
He’s the quintessential “feel” manager and that’s refreshing these days. He hasn’t been able to flex his World Series muscle since he won with the San Francisco Giants in 2014. At 68, this could be his final chance, and he’s one or two button pushes away from getting there again.   Â