Rangers thump Astros to force Game 7 against defending World Series champs

Nathan Eovaldi remained perfect this post-season, and Mitch Garver and Jonah Heim homered early before a ninth-inning grand slam by Adolis Garcia helped the visiting Texas Rangers avoid elimination with a 9-2 win over the Houston Astros in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series on Sunday night.

Eovaldi, who also got the win in Game 2, yielded five hits and two runs in 6 1/3 innings to improve to 4-0 with a 2.42 ERA in the playoffs this year.

The decisive Game 7 is Monday night in Houston, where the Rangers, one of six major league teams without a World Series title, need a win to return to the Fall Classic for the first time since back-to-back trips in 2010-11.

The defending World Series champion Astros were again felled by a subpar start from Framber Valdez and lacklustre play at home. Valdez was charged with five hits and three runs with six strikeouts in five innings to fall to 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA this postseason.

The Rangers led by two before a breaking the game open with a five-run ninth, punctuated by the slam from Garcia, who struck out his previous four times up. The slugger was booed throughout the game after being at the centre of a bench-clearing scuffle in Game 5 after being hit by a pitch from Bryan Abreu.

When Garcia knocked a pitch from Ryne Stanek into the Crawford Boxes in left field with one out in the ninth, many of those fans began streaming for the exits after yet another poor home showing by Houston.

Statement Slam. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoAndTakeIt?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoAndTakeIt</a> <a href="https://t.co/B8ZoJLnygx">pic.twitter.com/B8ZoJLnygx</a>

The Astros, who are 5-0 on the road this postseason, won three in a row in Arlington wearing their orange jerseys to move