Daily dose of Yordan (ALCS Game 6)

Today's statline: 4-4, 3B, 2 2B, RBI, 2 R

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At bat 1 (Bottom of first): 2 pitch double to center, RBI

Facing Nathan Eovaldi with two outs and a runner on, Yordan took a fastball middle middle for a strike, before lashing out at a lazy curve low and away in his sweet spot. He got a really nice swing off on it and drove it deep into deep center field. Kike Hernandez looked like he had a read on it for an out, but the way Yordan smashed it gave it a nasty hop, which made it bounce out of Kike's glove for a stand up RBI double (again) to give the Astros an early lead. After all three of his hits last game were to the opposite field, it was very nice to see him take advantage of the pitch he was getting and rock one for a very productive first at bat. Although he himself wouldn't score in the inning, as Correa struck out, this was a key early moment from him to give Luis Garcia immediate breathing room and allow the fans to get rowdy.

At bat 2 (Bottom of fourth): 3 pitch double to left

Again facing Eovaldi, again with a runner on, Yordan decided to be much more aggressive early against him, fouling off first a low splitter in the zone, and then a fastball up and in to work himself down 0-2. While normally being 0-2 is death for a hitter, today was just Yordan's day, as he swung away at a second fastball high but well in the zone and punched it into left field for yet another double, once again advancing Bregman, this time to third. With runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs, this was a key inning here to tack on some insurance runs, but unfortunately 3 consecutive strikeouts meant a golden opportunity was wasted. We'll see if this comes back to haunt them, but one thing's for sure: Yordan is having a hell of a game and is building an extremely strong ALCS MVP case for himself in the likelihood that the Astros win game 6 and the series.

At bat 3 (Bottom of sixth): 6 pitch triple to right, R

Having knocked Eovaldi out of the game early despite him pitching well, Yordan got the pleasure of facing mediocre Red Sox reliever Josh Taylor to lead off the inning. The at bat started with Yordan taking a slider low and down for a ball, before taking a large hack at one in the zone. Then he got a fastball in the same location and fouled it off, again putting him down in a two strike hole. While again, it would have been easy for him to fold or make weak contact and settle, Yordan again buckled down, and took back to back sliders outside for balls to make the count full. Then, if you had any doubts about whether today was a magical night for Yordan, all doubts were quashed, as on the sixth pitch of the at bat Yordan got a hittable slider high in the zone and drove it deep down the right field corner. His bionic knees held up surprisingly well here, as he ran around first, chugged around second, and got to third with a stand up triple, a rare sight for anyone but especially for him. He would later score on some extremely smart baserunning on what was supposed to be a Kyle Tucker DP, scoring a huge 2nd run that gave the Astros a bit of room to work with (which was super important, considering the jam Kendall Graveman got into the next inning). Again, smart hitting and baseball IQ from Yordan, producing the big hit but also the smart baserunning to help his team win in the little ways.

At bat 4 (Bottom of eighth): 4 pitch single to center, R

Looking to seal his ALCS MVP and ice the game, Yordan came up against Tanner Houck, one of the best relievers in the Sox pen. Unfazed by this, Yordan took a slider way outside, then one inside that he probably should have swung at for a called strike, and then got a really good swing off on a slider in the zone, which he launched high onto the roof of the dome. Yordan was seeing Houck's slider really well, o it made sense for him to throw a fastball, but Yordan tomahawk chopped a high fastball up the middle for a single, capping off his amazing night with an encore. He would score on a Kyle Tucker three run home run that all but iced the game, securing his ALCS MVP and an amazing series.

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Wow. What a game and series from Yordan. Having watched him all year I knew he would do great against the Red Sox's unintimidating pitchers, but I didn't expect him to do this well. Apparently he had the highest ALCS OPS in history, and after struggling so much in 2019 against the Yankees this was one of the greatest turnarounds that I've ever seen. Also was super funny to see him actually show emotion after not cracking a single smile in the whole series, this has got to be a special moment for him. Idk man, after watching him the whole year it feels like watching your own kid doing great things after watching them grow the whole year. Baseball is fun isn't it?

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Job's not finished though. 4 more wins to go. Gonna be tough to beat either the Dodgers or Braves without McCullers, but this team has really grown on me, and they could honestly do anything at this point. Once the NLCS ends I'll have a world series preview available, but for now, it's time to celebrate.