The Houston Astros headed back home with a 3-2 advantage over the Texas Rangers, having won all three road contests. That feat would be all too surprising for most teams, but Houston thrives on the road. In fact, they're far better away from Minute Maid Park than they are at the giant juice box.
Three stats in particular have painted a cloud over the Astros chances at not just reaching the World Series once again, but winning it for the second straight year.
Yordan Alvarez is the only Houston Astros player hitting at home
The Astros lineup is loaded from top to bottom. Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Chas McCormick and more all offer plenty of help around Alvarez. However, it's been Yordan carrying the load, which frankly cannot continue if the Astros plan on winning Game 7.
Per MLB stats and info, "At Minute Maid Park in this posteason, Yordan Alvarez has accounted for 5/7 HRs hit and 8/14 RBIs among all Astros players. No other player has more than 1 RBI and the only other player hitting above 0.250 is Michael Brantley."
Astros struggle this season in games they sell out at home
Houston only has 28 sellouts at Minute Maid Park this season, which is a surprising number. However, given their lack of success in those games, perhaps it's a little more understandable. When fans pack the park -- even in the postseason -- Houston hasn't lived up to the hype.
Yeah, that is not going to cut it.
Dusty Baker vs Bruce Bochy is a Game 7 mismatch
Dusty Baker has yet to win a Game 7 as manager, which is rather hard to believe given he is 74 years old. The veteran manager has plenty of postseason baseball left in him, and hopes to repeat as World Series champion this season. If not, he's even been linked to the San Francisco Giants job.
Perhaps even worse is who Baker and the Astros are facing. Bruce Bochy, manager of the Texas Rangers, has yet to ever lose a Game 7. History is not on the Astros side.
