Altuve homers then commits another mammoth error

Altuve gets the @Astros on the board early. pic.twitter.com/q5w9ZjFWWm
— MLB (@MLB) October 14, 2020

For the second time in three games, Jose Altuve started the scoring with a solo home run in the first inning. That provided Jose Urquidy with a lead to work with, which he would hold very well over the first five innings. Urquidy allowed just three hits over the first five innings, keeping the Rays off the board and looking impressive in the process. He allowed a leadoff single in the top of the sixth, then induced what should have been a double-play groundball. It instead would go down as Altuve's third error in the last two games, both extremely costly.

Houston would move to their bullpen to try and get out of the jam, bringing in Enoli Paredes, who had been electric on the mound to this point in the postseason. That changed in this game, as he would load the bases on a single before allowing a two-RBI single to put the Rays ahead 2-1. The damage didn't stop there, as Paredes would hit a batter to load the bases again, then hit the next batter on the very next pitch, making it 3-1. The Astros would try another reliever, Brooks Raley, but he too would be unable to stop Tampa Bay's momentum, allowing a two-RBI double to push the lead to 5-1 before he would put an end to the dreadful inning for Houston.

Tampa Bay takes commanding 3-0 series lead

Michael Brantley would try and shift the momentum back Houston's way in the bottom of the inning, taking the first pitch deep to cut it to a 5-2 lead. Josh James was next out of the Astros' bullpen for the top of the seventh, a quick 1-2-3 frame to keep it a three-run game. Still 5-2 in the top of the eighth, James would get another quick inning, retiring the Rays in order.

Jose Altuve would attempt to start a rally in the bottom of the eighth, reaching base on a leadoff single, followed by a single by Michael Brantley to bring the tying run to the plate. Carlos Correa would win a lengthy at-bat, getting an infield single to load the bases, still with one out. Tampa Bay's defense would come through again, though, with two great plays to strand all three runners. Despite bringing the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, Houston would add no runs, as Tampa Bay would close out the win to go up 3-0 in the ALCS, a deficit that only one MLB team has ever come back from to advance.