The Houston Astros stunned the Seattle Mariners in Game 1 of their ALDS as Yordan Alvarez hit one of the most unlikely home runs in playoff history, a walk-off three-run shot with two outs in the bottom of the ninth off 2021 Cy Young winner Robbie Ray. The Astros had been 0-48 in their postseason history when trailing by multiple runs after eight innings. Game 2 is this afternoon from Houston with the home side a -155 favorite. At BetMGM, 76% of the money is on the Astros and 54% of the tickets.
How rare was Alvarez's dinger? It was just the second walk-off homer in postseason history by a team down to its final out. The other was Kirk Gibson's epic walk-off shot off Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. It was the first game-ending playoff shot by a team that was trailing at the time since Joe Carter's homer that won Toronto the 1993 World Series. The Astros now have seven walk-off homers in their postseason history. Only the Yankees (12) have more.
The day off in between Game 1 and 2 probably helped the Mariners, who had to be devastated after blowing a 7-3 lead in the eighth inning. It was definitely a curious call by Manager Scott Servais to pull closer Paul Sewald, a right-hander, for Ray, a lefty starter, to face Alvarez. During the regular season, Sewald faced 107 left-handed batters, and they hit .167 off him with a .589 OPS. Ray faced 146 lefties, and they hit .212 off him with a .647 OPS.
“I was just trying to get the si nker in on him,” Ray said. “Just didn't get there. … Just frustrating.”