The Royals add to the Houston Astros’ Home Playoff Game Horror

Yesterday’s incredible Kansas City Royals’ comeback win at Houston vs the Astros, is being haled and compared with last year’s Royals’ comeback win vs the Oakland A’s in the wild card game.

While many, especially new baseball commissioner, Rob Manfred are praising the state of baseball and this ridiculous extra round of playoffs, let’s look at the haunting reality of the  Houston Astros blowing leads in post season games at home.

Yes, I choose the negative and not the positive, if for no other reason that yesterday’s K.C. fine, “never give up” effort just underscores how dumb their manager Ned Yost/the batter Escobar’s decision to sacrifice in the seventh game of the World Series last year remains.

Now to that history, four previous times the Astros took a lead of two or more runs as late as the eighth inning in Houston, only to lose a post season game.

Three of those losses were with a chance to win the series as was the case yesterday.

In 1980, the Astros led the NLCS two games to one and led the Philadelphia Phillies by two runs heading to the eighth inning of game four in the best of five series. The Phils went ahead in the game in the eighth, were tied by a good Houston club (Terry Puhl, anyone?!), in the ninth but won it in the 10th, forcing a decisive fifth game the next night.

In that fifth game, Houston led (5-2) headed to the 8th inning with the supposedly great Nolan Ryan on the mound. Of course Ryan was not great and in a great example of why he was not, yielded runs as the Phillies scored 5 in the 8th (K.C. did the same yesterday!) to take a (7-5) lead. A gritty Houston team tied the game, but lost in 10 innings and went home, while the Phillies went on to win it all, perhaps coincidentally vs the Royals in the World Series.

1986 NLCS: The Mets lead the Astros 3 games to 2 but trail game 6 at Houston (3-0), going to the top of the ninth inning. Houston would have Mike Scott, who had been dominant in the series, pitching game 7. The Mets rallied for 3 runs to tie the game and eventually win the game, the series and the World Series.

Maybe the Astros can take some stock in the other horrible home post season loss, also on a Monday with the next game on a Wednesday.

That was in 2005 when the Houston team led the Cardinals 3 games to 1 and by two runs with St. Louis having two out nobody on in the top of the ninth. St. Louis won the game, but Houston won Wednesday in St. Louis to take the series. The White Sox then swept the Astros in the World Series.