Royals 5 Astros 4: Astros Lose Early Lead, ALDS Tied 1-1

It was a magical start to the postseason for the Houston Astros, but they couldn't hold on to an early lead and fell in a tight one run game. The clubs now go to Houston, where the Astros will have a chance to close out the series with two victories at home.

The Astros got off to another flying start, hitting Royals starter Johnny Cueto early and often. Colby Rasmus plated George Springer on a two out double in the first, and then George Springer singled in two runs with the bases loaded in the second.

All-World postseason outfielder Colby Rasmus stretched out the lead with a solo home run in the third, his third home run in three postseason games this year. He also set the record for consecutive postseason games with an extra base hit at six.

It was all looking fantastic for the Astros, but in the sixth inning that bounces that had gone their way throughout the playoffs began to go the Royals way. The Royals used a bloop RBI hit from Eric Hosmer, a weak dribbler from Kendrys Morales, and two walks to tie the score. Josh Fields managed to strike out the last two batters to end the inning, but the momentum had shifted to the Royals.

They took the lead for the first time in the series in the bottom of the seventh after the Astros couldn't score in the top of the inning. Alcides Escobar hit a leadoff triple that managed to find the one patch of outfield not covered by Jake Marisnick and George Springer. Ben Zobrist drove in Escobar, and suddenly the Astros were behind with the vaunted Royals bullpen entering the game.

The Royals bullpen held on, and leveled the series at one game a piece. It obviously would have been huge for the Astros to take a 2-0 series lead, but they did steal home field advantage from the Royals. Two wins for the Astros in Houston and the series belongs to them.