| 2020 Houston Astros | |
|---|---|
| American League West 2nd Place | |
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| League | American League |
| Division | West |
| Ballpark | Minute Maid Park |
| City | Houston,Texas |
| Record | 29–31 (.483) |
| Divisional place | 2nd |
| Owners | Jim Crane |
| General managers | James Click |
| Managers | Dusty Baker |
| Television | AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Todd Kalas,Geoff Blum) |
| Radio | KTRH 740 Weekday Night GamesSportstalk 790 Houston Astros Radio Network (Robert Ford,Steve Sparks,Geoff Blum) KLAT (Spanish) (Francisco Romero,Alex Treviño) |
| Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference |
The2020 Houston Astros season was the59th season for theMajor League Baseball (MLB) franchise inHouston,Texas, their 56th as the Astros, eighth in both theAmerican League (AL) andAL West division, and 21st atMinute Maid Park. The team entered the season having won a franchise regular season-record 107 games, as both the defending champions of theAmerican League and of the AL West, the runners-up of the2019 World Series, with three consecutive 100-win regular seasons, and entrants into three consecutiveAmerican League Championship Series (ALCS); both of the latter two achievements had been unprecedented in franchise history.
The 2020 season was the first for bothDusty Baker as the Astros' manager, the 24th in franchise history, andJames Click as general manager. The pair replacedA. J. Hinch andJeff Luhnow, respectively, who were terminated for their role in the team'ssign-stealing scandal which had been revealed during the 2019–20 offseason. As part of the team's punishment, they forfeited both their first- and second-round picks in the2020 and2021 MLB drafts.
As a response to the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic, the MLB season was shortened from the standard 162-game schedule to 60 games, resulting in a delayed start to the season.[1] The season commenced on July 24 withJustin Verlander making his third consecutiveOpening Day start for the Astros, who hosted theSeattle Mariners and won, 8–12. The Astros' top overall selection in the MLB draft wasAlex Santos, a compensatory pick between the second and third rounds.
By virtue of aLos Angeles Angels loss on September 25, the Astros clinched aplayoff berth, reaching their fourth consecutive postseason tournament, fifth in the last six years, and 14th postseason season appearance in franchise history. It was also their fourth wild card title and second as an AL club. Baker became the first major league manager to guide five different teams to the postseason. In spite of finishing the regular season 29–31, Houston became the second AL team to reach the playoffs with a losing record following the1981 Kansas City Royals, also during a shortened season. Hence, under the newly-expandedplayoff format, Houston received the No. 6 seed in the AL.
On September 30, the Astros became the first sub-.500 team to win a playoff series, eliminating theMinnesota Twins in a two-game sweep in theAL Wild Card Series (WCS), becoming the first sub-.500 team to win a playoff game the day before (as of 2023, they remain the only sub-.500 team to ever win a playoff game or series). The Astros advanced to theAmerican League Division Series (ALDS), where they defeated the AL West-championOakland Athletics three games to one. During the ALDS, the Astros batted in a historic 33 runs (and 12 home runs) across 35 innings. Next, the Astros advanced to their fourth consecutiveALCS, where they were defeated by theTampa Bay Rays in seven games. Having trailed three-games-to-none to start the ALCS, the Astros nearly completed a dramatic comeback in forcing a Game 7.
After the season,pitcherCristian Javier was named a finalist for the2020 AL Rookie of the Year Award, finishing third in voting.
For years, some individuals on other teams had suspected the Astros of stealing signs, but there was no public reporting on the subject until November 2019, whenThe Athletic reportersKen Rosenthal and Evan Drellich atThe Athletic published an article detailing the team's activities.Mike Fiers, who pitched for the Astros from 2015 to 2017, informedThe Athletic that the organization used a video camera incenter field at Minute Maid Park to film the opposingcatcher's signals to the pitcher regarding the next pitch. Astros players or team staffers watching the live camera feed behind thedugout used various audio cues to signal to thebatter what type ofpitch was coming next. MLB opened an investigation into the allegations and confirmed in January 2020 that the Astros illegally used a camera system to steal signs during the 2017 regular season and postseason, during which they won theWorld Series, as well as in part of the 2018 regular season. MLB found no evidence of illicit sign stealing in the2019 season, in which the Astros advanced to theWorld Series but lost.
For failure to prevent the rules violations, Astrosgeneral managerJeff Luhnow andfield managerA. J. Hinch were suspended for the entire2020 season. The Astros were fined the maximum allowable $5 million and forfeited their first- and second-round picks in the2020 and2021 drafts. No players were punished because they had been givenimmunity by MLB in exchange for their cooperation.[2] The Astros subsequently fired both Luhnow and Hinch on the day their suspensions were announced.[3] MLB's investigation also determined thatBoston Red Sox managerAlex Cora helped mastermind the Astros' sign stealing while serving as Hinch'sbench coach in 2017; Boston and Cora mutually parted ways the following day, and MLB later suspended Cora through the 2020 postseason.Carlos Beltrán was the only Astros player from 2017 who was specifically named in the report; he had been hired to manage theNew York Mets in November 2019 but parted ways with the team after the results of MLB's investigation were announced.
On March 12, 2020, MLB announced that as a response to the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic, the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks in addition to the remainder of spring training being cancelled.[4] Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by theCDC to restrict events of more than fifty people for eight weeks.[5] On June 23, commissionerRob Manfred unilaterally implemented a 60-game season. Players reported to training camps on July 1 in order to resume spring training and prepare for a July 24Opening Day.[6]
The2020 All-Star Game was also canceled due to the delayed start.
| 4 | George Springer | CF |
| 27 | Jose Altuve | 2B |
| 2 | Alex Bregman | 3B |
| 23 | Michael Brantley | LF |
| 10 | Yuli Gurriel | 1B |
| 1 | Carlos Correa | SS |
| 22 | Josh Reddick | RF |
| 16 | Aledmys Díaz | DH |
| 15 | Martín Maldonado | C |
| Starting pitcher | ||
| 35 | Justin Verlander | P |
| Venue: | Minute Maid Park • HOU 8, | SEA 2 |
After making the Opening Day start, Verlander stopped throwing as of July 24 due to a right forearm strain. On September 19, it was announced that Verlander would undergoToomy John surgery and miss the remainder of the season, as well as2021.[19]
| 2020 Game Log: 29–31 (Home: 20–8; Away: 9–23) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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July: 4–3 (Home: 3–3; Away: 1–0)
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August: 15–11 (Home: 11–2; Away: 4–9)
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September: 10–17 (Home: 6–5; Away: 4–12)
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| Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement Bold = Astros team member | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 36 | 24 | .600 | — | 22–10 | 14–14 |
| Houston Astros | 29 | 31 | .483 | 7 | 20–9 | 9–22 |
| Seattle Mariners | 27 | 33 | .450 | 9 | 14–10 | 13–23 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 26 | 34 | .433 | 10 | 16–15 | 10–19 |
| Texas Rangers | 22 | 38 | .367 | 14 | 16–14 | 6–24 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rays | 40 | 20 | .667 |
| Oakland Athletics | 36 | 24 | .600 |
| Minnesota Twins | 36 | 24 | .600 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians | 35 | 25 | .583 |
| New York Yankees | 33 | 27 | .550 |
| Houston Astros | 29 | 31 | .483 |
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Sox | 35 | 25 | .583 | +3 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 32 | 28 | .533 | — |
| Seattle Mariners | 27 | 33 | .450 | 5 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 26 | 34 | .433 | 6 |
| Kansas City Royals | 26 | 34 | .433 | 6 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 25 | 35 | .417 | 7 |
| Boston Red Sox | 24 | 36 | .400 | 8 |
| Detroit Tigers | 23 | 35 | .397 | 8 |
| Texas Rangers | 22 | 38 | .367 | 10 |
| Team | HOU | LAA | OAK | SEA | TEX | NL | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | — | 4–6 | 3–7 | 7–3 | 5–5 | 10–10 | ||||||||||
| Los Angeles | 6–4 | — | 4–6 | 5–5 | 4–6 | 7–13 | ||||||||||
| Oakland | 7–3 | 6–4 | — | 6–4 | 7–3 | 10–10 | ||||||||||
| Seattle | 3–7 | 5–5 | 4–6 | — | 8–2 | 7–13 | ||||||||||
| Texas | 5–5 | 6–4 | 3–7 | 2–8 | — | 6–14 | ||||||||||
| 2020 Houston Astros | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
| Catchers Infielders | Outfielders Other batters | Manager Coaches
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Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | AVG | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yuli Gurriel | 57 | 211 | 27 | 49 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 22 | 0 | 12 | .232 | .384 |
| Kyle Tucker | 58 | 209 | 33 | 56 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 42 | 8 | 18 | .268 | .512 |
| Carlos Correa | 58 | 201 | 22 | 53 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 0 | 16 | .264 | .383 |
| Jose Altuve | 48 | 192 | 32 | 42 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 2 | 17 | .219 | .344 |
| George Springer | 51 | 189 | 37 | 50 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 32 | 1 | 24 | .265 | .540 |
| Josh Reddick | 56 | 188 | 22 | 46 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 23 | 1 | 20 | .245 | .378 |
| Michael Brantley | 46 | 170 | 24 | 51 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 22 | 2 | 17 | .300 | .476 |
| Alex Bregman | 42 | 153 | 19 | 37 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 22 | 0 | 24 | .242 | .451 |
| Martín Maldonado | 47 | 135 | 19 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 24 | 1 | 27 | .215 | .378 |
| Abraham Toro | 33 | 87 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 3 | .149 | .276 |
| Myles Straw | 33 | 82 | 8 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 4 | .207 | .256 |
| Aledmys Díaz | 17 | 58 | 8 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | .241 | .483 |
| Jack Mayfield | 21 | 42 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .190 | .214 |
| Dustin Garneau | 17 | 38 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 | .158 | .289 |
| Taylor Jones | 7 | 21 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .190 | .381 |
| Garrett Stubbs | 14 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .125 | .125 |
| Yordan Alvarez | 2 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .625 |
| Team totals | 60 | 1992 | 279 | 478 | 103 | 12 | 69 | 268 | 22 | 192 | .240 | .408 |
Source:[1]
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Framber Valdez | 5 | 3 | 3.57 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 70.2 | 63 | 32 | 28 | 16 | 76 |
| Zack Greinke | 3 | 3 | 4.03 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 67.0 | 67 | 30 | 30 | 9 | 67 |
| Lance McCullers Jr. | 3 | 3 | 3.93 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 55.0 | 44 | 29 | 24 | 20 | 56 |
| Cristian Javier | 5 | 2 | 3.48 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 54.1 | 36 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 54 |
| Brandon Bielak | 3 | 3 | 6.75 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 32.0 | 39 | 26 | 24 | 17 | 26 |
| José Urquidy | 1 | 1 | 2.73 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 29.2 | 22 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 17 |
| Andre Scrubb | 1 | 0 | 1.90 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 23.2 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 24 |
| Ryan Pressly | 1 | 3 | 3.43 | 23 | 0 | 12 | 21.0 | 21 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 29 |
| Blake Taylor | 2 | 1 | 2.18 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 20.2 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 17 |
| Enoli Paredes | 3 | 3 | 3.05 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 20.2 | 18 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 20 |
| Cy Sneed | 0 | 3 | 5.71 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 17.1 | 22 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 21 |
| Josh James | 1 | 0 | 7.27 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 17.1 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 21 |
| Brooks Raley | 0 | 1 | 3.94 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 16.0 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 21 |
| Luis García | 0 | 1 | 2.92 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12.1 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| Humberto Castellanos | 0 | 1 | 6.75 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 10.2 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 12 |
| Nivaldo Rodríguez | 0 | 1 | 6.23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8.2 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 |
| Brandon Bailey | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Chase De Jong | 0 | 1 | 14.73 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7.1 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 9 |
| Cionel Pérez | 0 | 0 | 2.84 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Justin Verlander | 1 | 0 | 3.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Joe Biagini | 0 | 0 | 20.77 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4.1 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 4 |
| Roberto Osuna | 0 | 0 | 2.08 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Chris Devenski | 0 | 1 | 14.73 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3.2 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 5 |
| Bryan Abreu | 0 | 0 | 2.70 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 |
| Brad Peacock | 0 | 0 | 7.71 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Carlos Sanabria | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Team totals | 29 | 31 | 4.31 | 60 | 60 | 16 | 524.0 | 472 | 275 | 251 | 217 | 526 |
Source:[2]
| 2020 Postseason Game Log: (8–5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ALWCS |
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Wild Card Series[edit]Main article:2020 American League Wild Card Series The Astros played the Twins in the Wild Card series atTarget Field inMinneapolis,Minnesota.
Zack Greinke got the ball for the Astros against Twins aceKenta Maeda. Greinke pitched four innings, allowing 1 run.Framber Valdez relieved Greinke in the 5th inning, and pitched 5 scoreless innings. Meanwhile,George Springer tied the game with an RBI single, and the Astros scored 3 runs in the 9th offSergio Romo &Caleb Thielbar.
José Urquidy got the ball for the Astros againstJosé Berríos. Urquidy pitched4+1⁄3 innings, allowing 1 run, and was relieved by leftyBrooks Raley. Twins DHNelson Cruz was the only source of offense for the Twins, as he drove in both runs for the Twins in the series.Cristian Javier pitched 3 scoreless innings, whileCarlos Correa provided a go-ahead home run and the Astros got a 2 run single from breakout starKyle Tucker. Pressly closed it out in the 9th inning to send the Astros to theALDS. |
ALDS |
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American League Division Series[edit]Main article:2020 American League Division Series The Astros faced their division rivals, theOakland Athletics, in theALDS. Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, all games of the series were played atDodger Stadium inLos Angeles.
The Astros announced thatLance McCullers Jr. would get the ball for game one against A's aceChris Bassitt. A's DHKhris Davis got the scoring started with a two-run home run in the second inning, followed by aSean Murphy solo shot in the third. The Astros responded with a solo home run fromAlex Bregman and a game-tying home run fromCarlos Correa in the top of the fourth. The A's responded quickly with a solo shot fromMatt Olson to put the A's back in front, 4–3. Both starters lasted four innings. AMark Canha sacrifice fly extended the A's lead to 5–3 in the fifth. The Astros took the lead in the sixth, whenJosh Reddick reached on a fielding error with two outs andMartín Maldonado singled.George Springer then doubled to score ReddickJose Altuve followed it up with a double to drive in both Maldonado and Springer giving the Astros a 6–5 lead.Michael Brantley singled in Altuve to make it 7–5. Correa hit his second home run of the game in the seventh to make it 8–5. The Astros then broke it open in the ninth inning with a Correa RBI single and aYuli Gurriel sacrifice fly.Ryan Pressly worked a 1–2–3 ninth inning to seal the Game 1 victory for the Astros 10–5.
Left-handed pitcherFramber Valdez started game two of the series against A's left handerSean Manaea. A's DH Khris Davis hit another home run to give the A's the lead in the second inning. The Astros fought back and took the lead when George Springer hit a two-run home run in the third. The Astros added another run on a Correa RBI groundout in the fourth moving the lead to 3–1. The A's countered with aChad Pinder solo home run in the fourth to narrow the lead to 3–2. Martín Maldonado and Springer hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning to push the Astro's lead to 5–2. Ryan Pressly picked up the save for the Astros as they moved the A's to the edge of elimination with a 2–0 game lead in the series.
José Urquidy started Game 3 for Houston, while the A's startedJesús Luzardo. A's second basemanTommy La Stella got the scoring started with a solo home run in the first inning. The Astros responded with a solo home run from Jose Altuve and a Correa RBI groundout to take the lead in the bottom of the first. The A's responded again with a solo home run from left fielder Mark Canha to tie the game at two. The A's took the lead in the fourth inning on a Matt Olson solo home run.. The A's would pushed the lead to two with aMarcus Semien solo shot in the fifth. However, Houston tied it in the bottom of the fifth inning with anAledmys Díaz two-run home run. The Astros retook the lead later in the inning with a Michael Brantley RBI single, an Alex Bregman RBI double, and aKyle Tucker RBI single. Trailing 7–4, the A's tied it in the top of the seventh on a Chad Pinder three-run home run. The A's added two more runs in the eighth inning to cap the scoring. A's closerLiam Hendriks pitched three scoreless innings to save the A's season and send the series to a Game 4.
The A's startedFrankie Montas while the Astros startedZack Greinke. A's outfielderRamón Laureano got the scoring started with a three-run home run in the second. The Astros responded in the fourth inning with a two-run home run from Michael Brantley and a three-run home run by Carlos Correa. Trailing 5–3, the A's pulled within one on another home run from Laureano that chased Greinke from the game. LeftyBlake Taylor came in and got the final out of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Brantley hit his second home run of the game and Correa added an RBI single to make it 7–4. In the sixth, Kyle Tucker added an RBI single followed by another run-scoring single by Correa that to move the lead to 9–4. Jose Altuve added a two-run home run in the seventh to make it 11–4 Astros. The A's attempted to mount a comeback in the ninth when Marcus Semien drove in a run on a single and Tommy La Stella singled in Semien before Astros closer Ryan Pressly shut the door in the ninth to send the Astros to the ALCS. |
ALCS |
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American League Championship Series[edit]Main article:2020 American League Championship Series The Astros faced the No. 1-seededTampa Bay Rays in theALCS. Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, all games of the best-of-seven series were played atPetco Park inSan Diego, California.
The Astros started left-handerFramber Valdez, while the Rays started to left-handerBlake Snell in game one of the series The Astros got the scoring started with a solo home run from Jose Altuve in the first inning. The Rays tied it on a solo home run fromRandy Arozarena in the fourth inning and took the lead in the fifth inning on aMike Zunino RBI single. Blake Snell pitched five innings and allowed only one run. Valdez pitched six innings, giving up two runs on four hits. The Rays' bullpen pitched four scoreless innings in relief as the Rays held on for the 2–1 victory. The win gave the Rays a 1–0 lead in the series.
The Astros started right handerLance McCullers Jr., while the Rays started right handerCharlie Morton. The Rays got the scoring started with a 3-run home run from outfielderManuel Margot. The Astros got on the board with a solo home run from shortstopCarlos Correa. The Rays added 1 more run from catcherMike Zunino. The Astros started a rally in the 9th against Rays closerNick Anderson, but only managed 1 run as the Astros fell into a 0–2 hole in the ALCS.
The Rays started left-handerRyan Yarbrough, while the Astros started right-hander José Urquidy in Game 3 of the series with the Astros becoming the home team. The Astros took another early lead on a Jose Altuve home run in the first. Still leading by one in the sixth, the Rays pushed across six runs on a two-run scoring single byJoey Wendle. A hit batter drove in another run and a double with the bases loaded byHunter Renfroe gave the Rays a 5–1 lead. A Michael Brantley home run in the sixth pulled the Astros within three, but they could must no further as they lost their third straight game. The loss moved the Astros to the edge of elimination in a 3–0 series hole.
The Rays started right handerTyler Glasnow, while the Astros countered with Zack Greinke. The Astros took an early lead with another first inning home run from Jose Altuve and then added another run on an Altuve RBI double in the third. The Rays tied it at two in the fourth inning on an Randy Arozarena home run. George Springer hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth. The Rays drew within a run on a Willy Adames run-scoring double in the top of the ninth. Ryan Pressly was able to get the final out and move the series to Game 5 with the Astros trailing three-games-to-one.
The Rays started Game 5 with an opener in right-handerJohn Curtiss, while the Astros started rookie right-handerLuis García. The Astros, in their last game as the home team in the series, got the scoring started with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first from George Springer. The Rays tied it on aBrandon Lowe solo homer in the third. However, the Astros answered and took the lead in the bottom of the third with a two-run single from Michael Brantley. The Rays narrowed the lead to one with another home run from Randy Arozarena in the fifth. With only six outs remaining in the game, the Rays tied it in the top of the eighth on aJi-man Choi solo home run. With the game still tied in the bottom of the ninth inning, Carlos Correa homered to straight away center field to give the Astros the 4–3 win and extend the series to a Game 6.
Game 1 starterFramber Valdez started Game 6, whileBlake Snell opposed him. The Rays got the scoring started with aWilly Adames RBI double. The Astros took the lead with aGeorge Springer 2-run single, aJose Altuve RBI double, and aCarlos Correa RBI single.Kyle Tucker added his first career postseason home run to make it a 5-1 Astros lead. The Astros took a 7–1 lead with aMichael Brantley RBI single & a Tucker sac fly. The Rays got back into the game with 2 home runs fromManuel Margot. Pressly shut the door in the 9th to force a Game 7 and make the Astros the 2nd team in MLB history to force a Game 7 after being down 3–0 in the series (The2004 Red Sox are the other team).
The Astros started Game 2 starterLance McCullers Jr., while the Rays started Game 2 starterCharlie Morton. The Rays struck first on a 2-run home run fromRandy Arozarena in the 1st. CatcherMike Zunino added a solo home run to make 3-0 Rays in the 2nd. Zunino then added a sac fly in the 6th to make it 4–0. The Astros got on the board with a 2-run single fromCarlos Correa.Pete Fairbanks shut the door in the 9th to send the Rays to the World Series and eliminate the Astros. |
| Name of award | Recipient | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darryl Kile Good Guy Award | Brad Peacock | [20] | ||
| Fred Hartman Award for Long and Meritorious Service to Baseball | Carl Schneider | [21] | ||
| Houston Astros | Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award | George Springer | ||
| Pitcher of the Year | Framber Valdez | |||
| Rookie of the Year | Cristian Javier | |||
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Round Rock Express | Pacific Coast League | |
| AA | Corpus Christi Hooks | Texas League | |
| A-Advanced | Fayetteville Woodpeckers | Carolina League | |
| A | Quad Cities River Bandits | Midwest League | |
| A-Short Season | Tri-City ValleyCats | New York–Penn League | |
| Rookie | GCL Astros | Gulf Coast League | |
| Rookie | DSL Astros | Dominican Summer League |
As of mid-April 2020, Astro teammates Carlos Correa and Martin Maldonado, along with fellow Major Leaguers such as Francisco Lindor and Eddie Rosario, as well as musical stars, have already shipped 26 pallets of medical supplies to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Astros owner Jim Crane has waived all shipping and logistic charges through his company Crane Worldwide Logistics.[22]
