‘Not through writing history’: With three wins in a row, Astros even ALCS to force Game 7 against the Rays

SAN DIEGO — They are the mosquitoes at the lake, the ants ruining the weekend picnic.

They are the Houston Astros.

And they refuse to go away.

The Astros, on the verge of history, have turned the Tampa Bay Rays’ world completely upside down, winning for the third consecutive game Friday, 7-4, and sending the American League Championship Series to seven games.

The Astros are only the second team in baseball history to be down 3-0 in a best-of-seven series and force a Game 7, joining that lovable 2004 Boston Red Sox team, who went onto win their first World Series in 86 years.

Well, while no one is calling the Astros lovable, with fans and opposing teams still seething that they illegally stole signs during their 2017 World Series run, but they’re trying to carve their piece of history, too.

“We’re not through writing history,’’ Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “I’m hoping we can have a happy ending to this historic season, and this historic year.

“You got to love this team. Some people hate this team. But you got to respect this team.’’

Yes, indeed.

There may be people who will never forgive them for the cheating scandal, but what they’re accomplishing now, winning without Cy Young winner Justin Verlander, relying on rookies in the bullpen, and popular third base coach Gary Pettis undergoing cancer treatments, it’s an impressive showing. 

“This is what we live for,’’ Astros shortstop Carlos Correa said. “This is what we dreamed of as kids.

“Game 7.’’

There wasn’t a soul outside the 713 area code in Houston, except for those inside the Astros’ clubhouse, who believed the Astros had a chance down 3 games to 0. They were in all of those games, and could have easily won two of them, but it was as if the baseball gods were punishing the Astros.

“We never put our heads down,’’ said Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker, who led his team in homers during the regular season, and finally produced his first homer, let alone first extra-base hit, in the sixth inning. “Even when we went down the first three games, we never gave up. We knew we were a great team.

“We wanted to get back to the World Series.’’

And as long as they’re trying to make history, Alex Bregman figured they might as well get some pointers, sitting together at their hotel two nights ago to watch the ESPN documentary, Four Days in October, the story on the Red Sox’s historic comeback over the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

The Red Sox, down 3-0, won. Won again. And again. And again. And they didn’t lose another game the rest of the season, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals for the World Series.

“I was sitting down watching it with him,’’ Correa said. “It was a super-inspiring video. It’s the only team that’s been able to do that.’’

Here they are now, trying to re-create history, proving to the world that they don’t need trash cans, secret video, or anything else to win a World Series.

They always had the talent.

“We’re relentless,’’ said Correa, who had a walk-off home run in Game 5, and came back with three more hits in Game 6. “When we said we didn’t want to go home, we really meant that. We want to keep playing baseball. We didn’t want it to be the end of the season.’’

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And now here they are, on the cusp of reaching the World Series for the third time in four years.

“If we don’t win the game,’’ Correa said of Game 7, “it all meant nothing.’’

The Rays, meanwhile, are trying to regain their composure. They had everything working for them the first three games.

Only for their offense to go AWOL at the worst possible time.

“They are frustrated, we are all frustrated,’’ Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I don’t think they are tensing up. I think they are recognizing that we got an opportunity for the fourth time now to do something special.’’

The Rays, who are trying to reach the World Series for only the second time in franchise history, still have one more shot at this thing. They will be going with veteran Charlie Morton, the winner of Game 2, who is 6-0 with a 1.67 ERA in his last eight appearances.

He is facing Lance McCullers, who started the 2017 Game 7, and was brilliant in their matchup in Game 2 of this series. He yielded just four hits and one earned run, striking out 11 in seven innings, but lost to Morton.

But while the series is tied at 3-apiece, and everyone trying to say how much confidence they have, the momentum certainly has shifted.

“There’s definitely momentum our way,’’ Correa said, “but it’s also true that it’s 3-3 with a winner-take-all game (Saturday). I’m sure they didn’t want to be in this position when they were up 3-0, but here we are.’’

Game 7.

“We made it to the top,’’ Baker said, “now we want to go to the backside of this mountain. Getting close isn’t good enough.’’

Follow Nightengale on Twitter:@Bnightengale

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