After going back and forth for over a week, there’s still nothing between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros in this ALCS. They’ll now have to settle things with the most thrilling two words in all of sports: Game 7, scheduled for Minute Maid Park at 8:03 p.m. ET on Monday night. Will Max Scherzer overcome injury and send his new team on to the World Series? Will the Astros claim the AL crown yet again?
Before we get the answers to those questions, let’s take a look back at the history of MLB Game 7s and see which of these in-state rivals might have the edge.
How many Game 7s have been played?
Between the World Series and the LCS (which dates back to 1969), there have been 57 winner-take-all games — 56 Game 7s and one Game 8, which the 1912 World Series required due to an earlier tie on account of darkness. Leaving out the 2020 games, all played at neutral sites amid the COVID-19 pandemic, home teams have gone 30-27 in those matchups.
Which team has the edge?
In the World Series, the home team is just 19-21; in the LCS, the home team is 11-6 — although the road team got the best of the most recent LCS Game 7, when the Dodgers beat the Brewers in Milwaukee to win the 2018 NLCS. The Astros are 2-3 in Game 7s in franchise history, with four of those games coming since 2017. (Houston has lost their last two, though: in the 2020 ALCS against the Rays and the 2019 World Series against the Nationals.) The Rangers, meanwhile, have only played one Game 7 in franchise history, a gut-punch loss to the Cardinals in the 2011 World Series.
How often does Game 7 go to extra innings?
Only five Game 7s, and that 1912 Game 8, have gone into extras — five times in the World Series and once in the ALCS (the legendary Aaron Boone game in 2003). The home team has won five out of six when Game 7 does go beyond nine, a point in favor of the Astros on Monday night. The lone victory by a road team was relatively recent, when the Cubs rebounded from Rajai Davis’ dramatic game-tying homer to beat the then-Indians, 8-7, to clinch the 2016 World Series.
In addition to Boone’s homer, Game 7 has delivered more than its share of memorable walkoffs. Two of them came in an LCS, while the other six decided a World Series champion on the final play. Game 8 of the 1912 World Series ended on a sacrifice fly surrendered by Christy Mathewson, but the rest ended on clean hits. Only two of those were home runs, though: Bill Mazeroski’s game-winner for the Pirates off Yankees pitcher Ralph Terry in the 1960 World Series, and Boone’s solo shot off Red Sox reliever Tim Wakefield in the bottom of the 11th inning in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS.
