Carlos Correa's homer in ninth inning keeps Astros alive in ALCS

SAN DIEGO – Before Carlos Correa headed to the plate in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the AL Championship Series, he told Dusty Baker, "Walkoff."

The 71-year-old manager replied, "Go ahead, man," and then said a quick prayer to his father and brother.

If the Houston Astros had been forced to go extra innings against the Tampa Bay Rays, Baker thought, he'd have to burn Framber Valdez, his projected Game 6 starter.

Baker's prayer was answered with a loud crack.

Correa homered with one out in the ninth, and the Astros beat the Rays 4-3 Thursday behind sensational pitching from five rookies, closing to 3-2 in the series.

Correa drove a fastball at the letters from Nick Anderson just past the palm trees to the right of the batter's eye at Petco Park, watched the ball for a few steps and then flung his bat. He was greeted at home by his ecstatic teammates.

"I don't mean no disrespect when I call my shot," said Correa, who added that he went to the indoor cage after his second and third at-bats to work with hitting coach Alex Cintron and make adjustments.

He passed on his positive view to teammate Altuve after the eighth.

"I told Altuve walking off the field, 'I'm going to end it,' " Correa recalled. "I could feel that my swing was in sync, I could feel that my rhythm was good, I could feel that I wanted to drive the ball. When he threw me the fastball I swung good and got exactly what I wanted."

Correa is only 3-for-18 in the series, but two are homers.

Houston won a second straight elimination game thanks in large part to starter Luis Garcia and four fellow rookies, who combined to hold the Rays to two runs and four hits through 6⅔ innings before Baker finally turned to a veteran, Josh James. Ryan Pressly, the seventh Astros pitcher, got the victory.

The Astros forced Game 6 on Friday, a rematch of the first game started by lefthanders Blake Snell of Tampa Bay and Valdez.

Otherwise, big league clubs leading 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series are 37-1.