SEATTLE — The Astros weren’t too tired to party. Far from it. The music blared in the visiting clubhouse at T-Mobile Park, the smell of champagne filled the air, and a group of confused, exhausted and excited players tried to digest and appreciate what they had just witnessed.
In perhaps the greatest game in franchise history, eight Astros pitchers combined to throw 18 scoreless innings and were rewarded when rookie Jeremy Peña had the biggest hit of his young career. Peña hit a leadoff homer in the 18th inning to send Houston to a thrilling 1-0 victory over the Mariners in an epic Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Saturday.
Peña took over this year as a stand-in for Carlos Correa, who had one of the most successful playoff runs in franchise history, and created his own signature playoff moment. After setting up shortstop Jordan Alvarez’s homers with singles in Games 1 and 2 in Houston, Peña fired a 3-2 shot off reliever Penn Murphy that flew a Statcast-estimated 415 feet into the smoky air and over the wall in the 18th.
“It’s a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Peña said.
Pena waved his fist as he rounded the bases, and the Astros poured over the railing and onto the warning track in front of the dugout. Peña is the third rookie in postseason history to homer in extra innings — and the second in 2022 since the Rangers’ Oscar Gonzalez did it in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series against the Rays.
“Jeremy’s not bothered,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “He’s a horse. He’s a superstar. Amazing teammate, amazing person.”
“Boy, our pitching staff did a great job here,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker, who moved four games away from his elusive World Series title. “They did a great job, especially tonight against us, because it’s hard to keep someone scoreless for that long on either side. This is some team. These guys, they grind and grind and grind and sooner or later we broke through.”
After 6 hours, 22 minutes, nearly 500 total pitches and a whirlwind of emotions, the Astros will get three much-needed days off before facing the Rangers or Yankees in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series, with the contest set for Wednesday in Houston. The Astros and Braves (eight straight) are the only teams to reach the LCS in six straight postseasons.
“There’s no complacency on this team,” said Astros pitcher Justin Verlander, who will start Game 1 of the ALCS. “No one is ever satisfied. That comes from our executives who have been here as long as we’ve been doing this. The first names that come to my mind are Bregman, [Jose] Altuve and McCullers and the guys that come after them, you can’t help but deal with their efforts. The way these guys prepare and come every day to win a baseball game, as a new player in this organization, you can’t help but do the same.”
The 18-inning affair is tied for the longest playoff game in Major League history, including Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS, which Chris Burke ended with a walk-off homer for the Astros against the Braves.
Burke, Peña and Gonzalez: The only three rookies to homer in postseason extras.
“There’s pure joy all around,” said Altuve, who shrugged off an 0-for-8 performance. “We are very happy. I think every single person in the club deserves that. We worked hard and we are here.”
As dominant as they were, as hard as the Astros played, the gritty Mariners stuck with them throughout the enticing game. The Astros went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, stranding the bases loaded in the fourth and with runners on second and third in the ninth. Seattle held Houston hitless from the 10th through 15th innings.
“Their pitching was phenomenal today, too,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “We kept putting the zero out there and we kept putting the zero out there and you think we’re going to be able to break through because we’ve had so many times. It’s something we’re used to, playing these tight games and finding a way. But there were no mistakes in this game today. I mean, that’s a big league game, with the pitching and the defense that was fired up there. We just couldn’t put anything together.”
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