Houston will need their road prowess to continue if they want to stay alive in ALCS

The Houston Astros went into the ALCS favorites to yet another World Series. They were the only division champ left standing and had dominated the Rangers in the regular season. Unfortunately, that is not how things have played out and Houston finds themselves in an 0-2 hole in the ALCS and heading to Arlington.

Normally, losing both home games would be a death knell for most teams as playing on the road is usually more difficult. However, the 2023 Houston Astros are anything but normal in this regard.

The Astros are lights out on the road in 2023

While Houston was nearly unstoppable at home last with a 61-27 at Minute Maid Park, that has not been the case in 2023 as the Astros are weirdly a sub-.500 team at home this year. Baseball is weird sometimes, but going from one of the best home field teams in baseball one year to being decidedly meh the next year is particularly weird.

However, where the Astros made their living this year was on the road and that is what gives Houston some hope of being able to turn this series around. Overall, Houston has a 51-30 away record this year and won two road series at Texas including a series sweep in early September. For whatever reason, the Astros have played markedly better on both sides of the ball when away from Houston this year.

The Astros have to hope that that trend continues. Yordan Alvarez continues to be a monster in the playoffs, but the rest of the offense has been inconsistent through two games of the ALCS and the pitching has been mediocre overall. Assuming these road numbers are real and predictive, the Astros should be able to at least get this series back to Houston. If not, well then they could be heading for a quick exit against a Rangers team that is playing their brains out right now.

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