ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Cristian Javier knew right away his fastball was working in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series. Then again, it’s October, when he always seems to be at his best for the Houston Astros.
“There’s not a better feeling than knowing that your teammates instill their confidence in you,” Javier said through his translator. “They expect good things in you and put their trust in you.”
The 26-year-old Dominican right-hander known as “El Reptil” delivered again, working into the sixth inning of another solid postseason start, and the Astros beat the Texas Rangers 8-5 on Wednesday night to close to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
“He was good. He was very good,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said.
Javier held Texas to two runs and three hits over 5 2/3 innings. He threw 51 of 85 pitches for strikes and walked only one batter.
“These moments are extremely special for me,” said Javier, who won for the second time these playoffs, and is 4-0 in his four career postseason starts while allowing only five total hits.
Texas lost for the first time this postseason after a 7-0 start. Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer was gone after four innings in his first outing in more than a month after recovering from a strained shoulder muscle.
Javier set a franchise record for the defending champion Astros by extending his postseason scoreless streak to 20 1/3 innings until the fifth, when rookie All-Star starting third baseman Josh Jung hit the first of his pair of two-run homers.
“He’s got that fastball, his rises a little bit, and hitters have a tough time,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s been throwing well in the postseason. We knew that coming in, we had our hands full.”
After going 7-1 in his first 14 starts this year, Javier had a 7.27 ERA over a 13-game stretch. He went more than a month without a win before six scoreless innings in the regular-season finale Oct. 1 at Arizona, an 8-1 victory that clinched the AL West title.
Ryan Pressly, the third reliever, worked the ninth and induced Jung’s game-ending, double-play grounder for his third save this postseason.
Jose Altuve homered while Martín Maldonado, the catcher wearing reptile-skin spikes as a nod to his pitcher’s nickname, and Yordan Alvarez both had two-run singles for the Astros. They scored five runs with two outs.
Jung hit his second two-run homer in the seventh for the wild-card Rangers, who played only their second home game this postseason. They swept Tampa Bay and Baltimore — the AL’s top two teams in the regular season — to get to their first ALCS since 2011 and their first postseason series against their instate division rival.
Game 4 is Thursday night, when José Urquidy pitches for Houston and Andrew Heaney starts for the Rangers. Game 5 will be Friday afternoon.
The Astros are 40-45 at home this year, losing three of four in the playoffs. But they have won 17 of their last 20 road games, including both at Minnesota in the AL Division Series and three during a record-setting sweep at Globe Life Field in early September, when they homered 16 times and outscored Texas 39-10.
“It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen because usually you want to be .500 on the road and way over .500 at home,” Baker said. “I asked the team in spring training to be the best road team. Maybe I should have asked them to be the best road and home team. They usually give me what I ask for.”
