The Houston Astros win the ALCS battle 4-2, but the war is not over yet!

As the Houston Astros move on to the World Series, the American League Championship behind them, let’s take a little walk down memory lane with a peek into the future.

It was October 17, 2018. One year and one day ago that the Houston Astros were faced with the same challenge as the Yankees. It was Game 5 of the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox. It was the bottom of the 9th, and memories of Game 5 of the 2017 WS coursed through the minds of every fan in the Park as Alex Bregman headed to the plate, his bat bouncing off of his back.

With every fan standing on their feet ready to jump for joy and holding their breath, Andrew Benintendi threw the final punch in an epic play that is forever etched in the brain of every Astros fan watching.

Personally, I literally cried as I was thinking about how our season had come to an end with that perfectly timed catch (and inside, I literally hated Andrew Benintendi). We were finished. The war had ended and we were on the wrong side of the battlefield. To quote Aaron Boone, “Sports can be a little bit cruel.”

The Yankees were faced with this same dilemma as they entered our house Saturday night, their backs against the wall – it was do or die time. The stars, it seemed, were aligned in favor of the Houston Astros. The ball was bouncing our way. The reviewed plays had favorable outcomes.

The boys made some iconic and epic defensive plays that were what highlight reels are made of – the catch by Josh Reddick for the second out in the top of the 6th, the DP started by Michael Brantley in the top of the 7th, the DP started by Jose Altuve to Carlos Correa that ended with Correa’s 94 mph throw to 1st in the top of the 8th, and so many more just too numerous to list.

But let’s not even pretend that we don’t know how, with each of these plays, the air was slowly leaking out of the proverbial balloons of the Yankees, dashing their hopes and the hopes of their fans of making it to one more game on their hunt to the WS that has lasted for 10 years, as they all watched the Houston Astros whittle away every one of their 27 outs in what would be their last battle of the war called the 2018 ALCS.