Altuve Walk-Off Homer Sends Astros to World Series

ASTROS 6 - YANKEES 4 
HOU Wins ALCS 4-2 

It was an instant classic. If you could script it anymore dramatic and any better with a championship on the line, this is how you would do it. That was how unbelievable, and incredible the finish to Game 6 of the American League Championship Series was.

The Astros led 4-2 heading into the ninth inning with their closer Robert Osuna on the mound, looking to lock down the 'Stros second trip to the Fall Classic in three years. That was until Yankees second baseman D.J. LeMahieu had something to say about it.

With Gio Urshella on first, and one out, LeMahieu, as he has done all year, came up clutch for the Yankees at the most opportune time. A 10-pitch battle between LeMahieu and Osuna concluded with the second baseman crushing a fastball two rows back in the right field bleachers, just passed the outstretched glove of George Springer to tie the game at four.

Suddenly a Yankee team that looked dead in the water had life. All they needed was Aroldis Chapman to settle down the Astros in the bottom half of the inning and the Yankees could focus on winning the game in extras.

For a short while it looked like Game 6 was poised for extras. Chapman struck out catcher Martin Maldonado for the first out, and got Josh Reddick to pop out to third for the second out.

Chapman got into some trouble when he lost Springer to a five-pitch walk, only to bring up the AL MVP from two years ago, Jose Altuve to the plate. And the littlest guy in baseball made the Yankees pay ... again.

In a moment best reserved for movies like "The Natural" Altuve absolutely crushed a 2-1 fastball from Chapman to deep left field, causing it ricochet off the brick facade for a two-run homer to send the Astros to the 2019 World Series.

Kids dream of that kind of moment, Altuve actually lived it. A two-run homer to win the pennant. Somewhere out there Bobby Thompson is smiling.

The wild and wacky ninth inning put an exclamation point on what had been an incredible ball game up to that point.

We saw tremendous plays in the field, such as Michael Brantley's diving catch to rob Aaron Hicks of base hit, which quickly turned into a double-play when Brantley alertly rose to his feet and shot a laser to Yuli Gurriel at first to double-up Aaron Judge.

How about the double-play turned by Altuve in the top of the eighth to rob the Yankees of an opportunity.

And who will forget the diving catch by Josh Reddick in right?

In short, the Yankees had every opportunity to do something against Houston, but the Astros seemingly always had the answer. That is why they are going to the World Series, and why the Yankees are going home.

It's not that the Yankees aren't good enough to beat a team like Houston. It's simply that the Houston Astros do all the little things right. In some way the Astros are everything the Yankees used to be in the late 90s and early 00s when they won four championships in five years.

Give the Yankees credit they fought all night to keep their season alive. They fell behind 3-0 when Gurriel homered off Chad Green to give the Astros an early 3-0 lead.

The Yankees chipped away with a Gary Sanchez RBI single in the top of the second, and a solo homer by Gio Urshela in the top of the of fourth to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Still it just wasn't enough to overcome the smarts of the Astros.

The Yankees will never get over losing this one. They had so many chances in all six games to write a completely different narrative.  The Yankees head into the off-season with their fair share of questions: Will Giancarlo Stanton be back after missing most of the postseason? Who will the Yankees sign to bolster a starting rotation that desperately needs better pitchers? Will the Yankees re-sign Didi Gregorius? Where will Gleyber Torres play if Gregorious leaves? So many questions abound.

The off-season beings. But if there is one thing the Yankees need to figure out is how do they beat the Astros. The Astros look destined to become a dynasty. Overthrowing them needs to be a priority now for Brian Cashman and company.