Editorial

Drama Hits An All-Time High In Astros-Rangers ALCS Game 5 As Disrespectful Passion Leads To Benches Clearing

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In ALCS Game 5 between the Astros and Rangers, the benches ended up being cleared after pitcher Bryan Abreu popped outfielder Adolis Garcia with a thrown ball. [Twitter/Screenshot/Public — @MLBONFOX]

[Twitter/Screenshot/Public — @MLBONFOX]

Andrew Powell Sports and Entertainment Blogger
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THE DRAMA IS REAL!

In the bottom of the eighth inning during ALCS Game 5 between the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers, the benches ended up being cleared after Astros pitcher Bryan Abreu popped Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia with a thrown ball.

Several were ejected as a result of the hit-by-pitch, with the umpires labeling Abreu’s knock as intentional, which it was.

Texas took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth after Garcia slammed a gargantuan home run off Houston starting pitcher Justin Verlander, and when it came to that Garcia home run, my man admired it like one of the most beautiful women he ever saw.

As you’ll see in this video, Garcia was slowly walking towards first base for a long 11 seconds before finally blasting his bat into the ground and then beginning his trot around the bases. It was truly a glorious moment — well, if you were a Rangers fan.

But the thing about those unintended consequences … they don’t discriminate.

When Garcia came back up to bat in the bottom of the eighth, Abreu clearly responded to the Texas Ranger’s home run celebration, drilling him in the left arm with a 99 MPH fastball, and on the very first pitch at that — it couldn’t have been more obvious that it was purposeful.

Garcia issued a response of own though, but not to Abreu, rather to Astros catcher Martin Maldonado as the outfielder instantly turned and got in his face. I can only assume that Maldonado said something that Garcia didn’t like.

Umpires attempted to deescalate the situation, but neither side was having it as both benches and bullpens came out to play.

Assuming that the pitch was intentional, which — like I said — is clearly the case, Abreu was ejected from the game by the umpiring crew, as was Garcia for starting the whole benches being cleared episode between the two ball clubs.

But players weren’t the only ones being handed ejections, as Houston manager Dusty Baker was also told to get the hell out after arguing with the umps that Abreu did nothing wrong, which … is just completely laughable.

And the drama didn’t stop there.

In what originally was looking like a Rangers victory to bump them up to a 3-2 series lead in the ALCS and just one win away from the World Series, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve had different plans. Facing a 4-2 deficit in the top of the ninth, Altuve creamed a ball to send it flying across the fence for a three-run home run, giving Houston a 5-4 lead in true hero fashion.

Astros pitcher Ryan Pressly went on to close things out in the bottom of the ninth, giving Houston the outright wild 5-4 victory.

I mean, damn, you talk about drama.

And on top of that, this series has turned into a straight up classic because of it. Things started with Texas taking a 2-0 lead and it looked like the Rangers were on cruise control to the Fall Classic, but the Astros re-wrote the script about as much as you can tying up the series 2-2. And now here we are with this intensity-filled bad boy of Game 5. (RELATED: Penn State Or Ohio State? Tennessee Or Alabama? Duke Or Florida State? Andrew Powell Makes His NCAAF Week 8 Picks)

Yeah, Houston has a 3-2 lead right now, but with how things have been going, anything can happen in Game 6.

Me personally, I’m rooting for pure chaos, and judging by all this, that’s probably what we’ll get.