HOUSTON _ Fifty feet from home plate, Jose Altuve's bat hit ground. The baseball touched down 314 feet further, in the third row of the right-field seats. He had swung hard, and he had not let go. The smallest man on the field carried his weapon until he was certain that his fly ball was a home run, that his Houston Astros had a two-run lead, that their season was a step closer to lasting at least another week.
Then, he flipped it. He flipped it with so much joy, so much excitement, and soon his dreams were fulfilled. The Astros shut out the New York Yankees, 4-0, on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park, surviving a hardscrabble American League Championship Series and securing their spot in the 2017 World Series.
Houston has never advanced further. Their one World Series visit, in 2005, ended in a sweep at the hands of the Chicago White Sox. This year, a date with the Dodgers awaits, beginning Tuesday at Dodger Stadium. Dallas Keuchel likely will face Clayton Kershaw in Game 1.
No road team won in this series. The Astros have lost only twice at Minute Maid Park since Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25.
Much of the sold-out crowd stood through the first inning. Each out fostered more excitement, building until Astros starter Charlie Morton struck out Didi Gregorius with his 10th pitch of the inning. When Yuli Gurriel sliced a drive to right to begin the second, Aaron Judge quickly turned and chased it 15 steps to the right-field wall. He left his feet as he neared the wall and reached his glove out in time to prevent a home run. Sabathia raised his arms in amazement and held them there for 10 seconds.
Only in the fourth did someone strike. Evan Gattis waited out seven CC Sabathia pitches, then pounced on an outside curveball and banged it off the facade beyond left-center field. The 37-year-old Yankee starter could not generate missed swings, but manager Joe Girardi left him in anyway. He summoned a reliever only when Josh Reddick, he of the 0-for-22 start to this series, singled. Tommy Kahnle induced a double-play ball with his first pitch, ending the inning to keep the Astros lead at 1-0.
Morton's first pitch of the fifth elicited action, too: Greg Bird whacked it into right for a double. Morton struck out Castro, then fired four consecutive balls to Aaron Hicks. The last escaped catcher Brian McCann, allowing Bird third. Bird went home when Todd Frazier chopped a ball to third, but Astros third baseman Alex Bregman fielded it quickly and threw well and low to Brian McCann.
Somehow, McCann caught it inches from the dirt, applied the tag, and held on. When Headley rapped one to right field again, Altuve put all his force behind the throw and hopped after he did. The Astros were out of it.
In the bottom of the inning, they were in business again. Altuve bashed the one-out blast before Carlos Correa and Gurriel notched back-to-back singles. After Gattis struck out, McCann saw five consecutive changeups from Kahnle. He lashed the fifth down the right-field line. Correa scored easily, and Astros third-base coach Gary Pettis liberally sent Gurriel, trusting that Gary Sanchez would fumble the throw home, as he repeatedly has this series. Pettis was correct, and Gurriel's head-first slide into home was uncontested.
Gurriel's haircut is unique, shaved down tight on the sides and left high on top. He has switched up the styling all season, but right now it resembles a spaceship. A few feet from home plate, as the crowd cheered them on, Correa dug both his hands into the vessel and muddled it.
After Morton's exit, manager A.J. Hinch used Lance McCullers for three innings, so bypassing his roster's underbelly, its struggling group of middle relievers. McCullers has always been capable of dominance, and on Saturday he pitched at his best, spinning his vicious curveball into and out of the strike zone as desired, striking out six Yankees, holding them to two baserunners. His last 24 pitches were all curveballs.
When McCullers finished the eighth by striking out Judge on three pitches, he let out a primal yell. Altuve grinned as he jogged off the field, brimming with elation. When McCullers finished the ninth with a Bird popout, the stadium crescendoed into a frenzy. Five minutes after it finished, fans broke out into the first of what will be many chants.
"BEAT L.A.! BEAT L.A."
The fun-loving Astros fly to Los Angeles Sunday.
