"We didn't even know if Lance was going to pitch because he had been sick" - Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. was questionable to start in Saturday's victory against the Cleveland Guardians
The Houston Astros swept the Seattle Mariners with their miraculous 1-0 victory in 18 innings on Saturday to advance to the ALCS. The afternoon game turned into a night game as it was the longest game in MLB postseason history. Jeremy Pena was the hero for the Astros as the shortstop hit a solo home run in the 18th inning.
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker revealed in a postgame interview that he wasn't sure if Lance McCullers would start tonight. The starting pitcher was battling an illness prior to Saturday's matchup.
"We didn't even know if Lance was going to pitch because he had been sick. So he worked on himself. Our fitness staff worked on him. I would have had to fight for him not to pitch because he loves to pitch" said Dusty Baker.
Dusty Baker: "We didn't even know if Lance was going to pitch because he had been sick. So he worked on himself. Our fitness staff worked on him. I would have had to fight him for him not to pitch because he loves to pitch."
It didn't look like he was battling any sort of sickness prior to the game as he was lights-out. He pitched six innings, giving up just two hits and striking out seven batters. He kept the Seattle batters at bay, showing great command of the strikezone.
McCullers wasn't the only Houston pitcher to show their dominance tonight. They unexpectedly had to throw seven pitchers out of their bullpen in a history-breaking extra-inning game.
Five pitchers came out of the bullpen for Houston to give them scoreless innings. Rookie-pitcher Hunter Brown came into the game in the 12th inning to give them two innings of scoreless baseball. They brought out their starting pitcher Luis Garcia in the 14th inning to get the win for the Astros.
He went five innings in the latter part of the game to close it out.. Garcia had six strikeouts on just two hits. It was an impressive game for the Houston Astros pitching staff as a whole.
Astros bullpen tonight:
12 innings
0 ER
7 hits
22 (!) K's
Terrific performance by Luis Garcia. 5 scoreless innings to close it out.
The Houston Astros have time to rest before the ALCS
With a 3-0 sweep over the Mariners, Houston could take this time off in between the series to get some guys some rest. Their pitching staff will need the rest after the game on Saturday.
Game one of the ALCS is scheduled to start on October 19. This gives Houston three days off before they get ready for either the New York Yankees or the Cleveland Guardians.
With a couple of days off, they'll have a clear advantage over whoever they play on Wednesday. They need to take advantage of these days off and get ready for the ALCS.