The Houston Astros have again staved off elimination, winning Game 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on a walk-off home run by Carlos Correa.
Houston led 3-1 after three innings before Tampa Bay scored a run in the fifth and another in the eighth before Correa ended things in the bottom of the ninth.
Ryan Pressly took the win, pitching an inning and two-thirds of scoreless relief while Nick Anderson suffered the loss, surrendering the long ball to Correa.
Astros stay alive thanks to Correa heroics
George Springer led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run off of John Curtiss before the Tampa Bay righthander got the next four outs. After two scoreless innings, Luis Garcia was replaced by Blake Taylor, who allowed a game-tying homer to Brandon Lowe in the third.
The Astros re-took the lead in the bottom of the inning on a two-run single by Michael Brantley. The Rays cut the lead in half on a solo shot by Randy Arozarena, his sixth of the playoffs off of Enoli Paredes, tying the franchise record for most in a playoff season.
Aaron Slegers did an excellent job out of the Tampa Bay bullpen, giving them 2 2/3 innings of relief and in the top of the eighth, Ji-Man Choi tied the game with monster home run into right field off of Josh James into right field in the top of the eighth.
Nick Anderson was called on to hold down the Astros in the bottom of the ninth, but instead he surrendered a game-winning homer to Correa as Houston became the fourth team in postseason history to force a Game 6 after trailing 3-0 in a series.
Up next
Game 6 will see both teams return to the traditional format on the mound as Houston will turn to Framber Valdez to force a Game 7 while Tampa Bay goes to Blake Snell to try and finish the series off. First pitch is at 6:07pm.