Texas Rangers Reach World Series As Astros Apparently On 2-Game Suspension; Houston Manager Dusty Baker May Retire

Houston got a pitcher off suspension Monday afternoon.

Then the Astros continued their own personal two-game suspension with an 11-4 loss to Texas on Monday night after a 9-2 loss on Sunday. That's a Texas-sized, 20-6 two-step doubleheader win by the Texas Rangers in Houston's Minute Maid Park to take the best-of-seven American League Championship Series, four games to three.

Call them the Houston Rangers as they won all four of their games in Houston. Texas reached their first World Series since going for their first two times in 2010 and '11, but they've never won a title.

Rangers To Play NLCS Winner Out Of Philly And Arizona

The Rangers now await the winner of the National League Championship Series. Arizona won 5-1 at Philadelphia earlier Monday to force a game seven on Tuesday (8:07 p.m., TBS) at Citizens Bank Park in Philly. Phillies fans turned on their team late in the loss Monday, booing and leaving early.

Amazingly, it will be the first-ever game seven for the Phillies, who won the World Series in 1980 and 2008 and made it to World Series in 1915, 1950, 1983, 1993, 2009 and last year.

Houston caught a break Monday afternoon. Major League Baseball "upheld" its two-game suspension of Astros relief pitcher Bryan Abreu for intentionally hitting Adolis Garcia on Friday night, only to postpone the two suspended games until 2024 in a cowardly move. So, Abreu got to pitch Sunday night, pending the outcome of the hearing. Then he got to pitch Monday night because of the suspension delay. Abreu should have faced immediate punishment for hitting Garcia with a 99 mph fastball high and tight on the arm.

Texas Rangers Got Sweetest Revenge Versus Houston Astros

In the end, though, the game was over by the time Abreu pitched Monday, and the Rangers didn't care. They took it out on Houston and then some with 25 hits over the last two games. Garcia hit a grand slam Sunday and followed that with two more home runs Monday, going 4-for-5 with five RBIs. Garcia's celebration after a two-run home run off Justin Verlander in the sixth inning for a 4-2 lead Friday in Arlington is believed to be what got him beaned by Abreu in the eighth.

Abreu overreacted, and now Garcia can slowly trot or do the Texas Two Step all the way back to Arlington.

Adolis Garcia set an ALCS record with 14 RBIs in the series, and he homered in four straight games.

Rangers Outfielder Adolis Garcia Dominated The Astros

"He's a bad man, isn't he," said Texas' Corey Seager, who was 3-for-5 Monday with a home run. "To be able to come into this atmosphere and get booed every at-bat and do what he did was pretty special. And it was really fun to watch."

Houston star Jose Altuve can only watch as Texas blows out the Astros 11-4 Monday night to win the ALCS, four games to three, and reach the World Series. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Not for Houston, which is stuck at home for the World Series for the first time since 2020. And they may soon be looking for a new manager as Dusty Baker is likely to consider retirement. He has reportedly told people this was his last season, according to The Athletic.

"I don't know. I haven't had time to evaluate or think about my future," Baker, 74, said after the game. Baker led Houston to the World Series title last year after losing two World Series as manager of San Francisco in 2002 and the Astros in 2021.

It looked like Baker may make one more World Series on Friday. The Astros won that one 5-4 on a Jose Altuve three-run home run in the ninth after Garcia, Abreu and Baker were ejected in the eighth. All Houston had to do was win one of two games at home. But they finished the ALCS 0-for-4 in Houston.

"Resilience," Seager said when asked how his team recovered from that 5-4 loss. "This is a tough team. That was a tough loss, but we weren't out of it."

If Baker does retire, he could always come back. That's what Texas manager Bruce Bochy did after the 2019 season with San Francisco, where he won three World Series. He returned for the 2023 season at 68 to manage Texas.

"It's unreal that I'm here, to be honest," he said. "Sitting at the house for three years, and to think, here I am going to a World Series. Yeah, that's special."