SEATTLE (AP) — Jeremy Peña and the Houston Astros just kept going. Scoreless inning after scoreless inning, as day turned into night in front of a frenzied crowd in Seattle.

They eventually found a way. That’s how the Astros reached the AL Championship Series for the sixth straight year.

It’s just what they do.

Peña homered in the 18th inning, and the Astros beat the Mariners 1-0 on Saturday for a three-game sweep of their AL Division Series.

“These guys, they know not to panic,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said. “They don’t get too excited. They don’t get too down. It means a lot.”

Peña drove a slider from Penn Murfee deep to left-center for the rookie’s first playoff homer, providing the only run in an afternoon full of dominant pitching and empty trips to the plate.

The 18 innings matched the longest game in playoff history and the 6 hours, 22 minutes was the third-longest in time.

Exhausting for everyone? Absolutely. But exhilarating for the Astros.

“Man, that was a long game. But you still got to lock in, try to put together good at-bats,” Peña said. “I was just trying to stay inside the baseball, drove it in the gap.”

Spoiling Seattle’s first home playoff appearance since 2001, Houston continued its ALCS streak that began with its 2017 World Series title. Next up is the New York Yankees or Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of the ALCS on Wednesday.

While Yordan Alvarez got the big hits in the first two games in Houston, it was Peña that set the table for Alvarez’s opportunities. As Game 3 made its way into its sixth hour, Peña delivered another painful blow to the Mariners that ended their short return to the postseason.

“We all know that we belong here now and we all know what it takes to get here and get beyond this point,” Seattle shortstop JP Crawford said.

After 21 years, Seattle fans welcomed playoff baseball back inside T-Mobile Park. They got their money’s worth, and then some.

Three previous playoff games reached the 18th inning, one involving Houston. The Astros beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6 in 18 innings in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS on Chris Burke’s game-ending homer.

Game 2 of the 2014 NLDS between San Francisco and Washington and Game 3 of the 2018 World Series between Los Angeles and Boston also went 18 innings.

But those games had runs. This one failed to produce anything until Peña’s swing on a 3-2 pitch.

“I feel like in the playoffs you can’t try and do too much, especially the later the game goes,” Peña said.

Seattle’s best scoring chance was Julio Rodríguez’s line drive that thudded off the wall in the eighth. The Mariners had runners in scoring position in the 13th and 17th, but couldn’t get a key two-out hit against Houston’s superb bullpen.

Unlike baseball’s regular season, there is no automatic runner when playoff games go to extra innings.

“They pitched great. They played a great series. They beat us,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “In my mind, and I think our players’ mind, is a break here or there goes our way in this series, it could have been a lot different. But end of the day, they got the big hits in each of the games and they end up winning them.”

Luis Garcia worked five innings for the win. The Astros bullpen allowed five hits and struck out 15 following six innings from starter Lance McCullers Jr.

“Watching the whole thing the guys are doing a really good job and I’m really proud of them. … I was just trying to help,” Garcia said.

Seattle’s bullpen was nearly just as good. After rookie George Kirby threw seven innings, nine Mariners relievers combined for 11 innings of five-hit ball.

The teams combined to strike out 42 times, topping the postseason record of 39 set by the Guardians and Rays last week in their AL wild-card matchup that was scoreless for 15 innings before Oscar Gonzalez’s home run sent Cleveland to the ALDS.

“Their pitching was phenomenal today as well. We kept putting the zero up there and kept putting the zero up there and you think we’re going to be able to break through because we have so many times,” Servais said. “It’s kind of what we’re accustomed to playing — those tight games and finding a way but there were no errors made in that game today.”

Houston advanced despite a rough performance for Jose Altuve, who went 0 for 8 in Game 3 for the first time in his career and was hitless in 16 at-bats in the series.

Altuve joined Xander Bogaerts in Game 3 of 2018 World Series versus the Dodgers as only players to go 0 for 8 or worse in a postseason game. But Houston’s other pieces came through, none bigger than its young shortstop who took on a prominent role after Carlos Correa departed in free agency.

Peña’s homer was his only hit in eight at-bats. But it was his contributions in the first two games that helped Houston travel to Seattle with a 2-0 lead in the series.

“In a team like this, with the pitching we have, with the defense we have, we never give up,” Altuve said. “We went out and played every single inning like it was the last inning. Putting everything we have, until Jeremy came and hit the big homer.”

KING RETURNS

Felix Hernandez threw out a ceremonial first pitch to a deafening ovation. Hernandez spent 15 seasons with the Mariners but never had the opportunity of pitching in the postseason. He won 169 games and had a career 3.42 ERA, last pitching for Seattle in 2019.

HE SAID IT

“We’re not going to forget this and coming into next year it will fuel us even more,” Seattle outfielder Jarred Kelenic said.

SMOKEY AIR

Seattle’s return to the postseason was played with a smoky haze and terrible air quality engulfing the Puget Sound region. A shift in winds and wildfire still smoldering in the Cascade Mountains created a dingy haze above T-Mobile Park. The air quality index in Seattle at first pitch registered at 161.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The post Peña’s 18th-inning HR sends Astros previous Mariners for sweep – KGET 17 appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SEATTLE (AP) — Once Josh Jacobs slipped past the last line of Seattle’s defense, all that was in front of him was open field and a place among the greatest single-game performances in NFL history.

Jacobs sprinted 86 yards for a game-ending touchdown and the Las Vegas Raiders won in overtime for the second straight week, beating the Seahawks 40-34 on Sunday.

“When I hit the gap, I see a big hole and I just tried to run as fast as I can,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs finished with a franchise record of 229 yards rushing and two scores. He also had six catches for 74 yards, and his 303 yards from scrimmage were the most in franchise history and the seventh-most in a game in the Super Bowl era.

Jacobs had never had a touchdown run longer than 28 yards, and his extraordinary dash was reminiscent of the Raiders’ Bo Jackson running untouched for a long TD against the Seahawks at the Kingdome on Nov. 30, 1987.

Not bad for a guy who’d been listed as questionable for the game with a calf injury. There was nothing uncertain about Jacobs’ play once he took the field.

“To see him finish like that, I know what he’s been dealing with, I know how hard he works. It was really cool to see that,” Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said.

Las Vegas (4-7) finished with 283 yards rushing and its 576 total yards were the third-most ever allowed by the Seahawks (6-5), who fell one game behind San Francisco in the NFC West.

“He’s hard to bring down. He’s a tough runner with good balance. You really gotta wrap him up,” Seattle defensive tackle Shelby Harris said. “He’s not one of those backs that gets touched and falls. He makes his money off breaking tackles and getting those extra yards.”

Las Vegas forced overtime thanks to Carr’s 5-yard touchdown toss to Foster Moreau in the corner of the end zone with 1:54 remaining that made it 34-all. Carr threw an interception on the first play of the game but finished 25 of 36 for 295 yards and three touchdowns.

The Raiders also got a break when Jacobs appeared to fumble inside the 10 just before Moreau’s touchdown catch, but officials ruled his forward progress had been stopped.

“It started from the first play to the last play. The first play is an interception and the last play is a touchdown,” Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said. “There was a lot of swings in the game.”

Seattle lost its second straight after falling to Tampa Bay two weeks ago in Germany. Geno Smith was 27 of 37 for 328 yards and two touchdowns. But Seattle’s rushing attack struggled for the second straight game, although Kenneth Walker III ran for two TDs.

In overtime, Daniel Carlson missed a 56-yard field goal attempt on Las Vegas’ first possession. But Seattle went three-and-out, and on the next play from scrimmage, Jacobs broke free.

Jacobs became the fourth player in the Super Bowl era with at least 300 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns in a game, and the first since Adrian Peterson set the single-game record for rushing yards (296) in 2007. He’s the first player since at least 1950 with at least 225 yards rushing and 70 yards receiving in the same game.

“It’s kind of crazy, coming in and not knowing if I was going to play, looking the guys in the eyes and telling them they’re going to get everything they’ve got in me,” Jacobs said.

The 86-yard TD run was the fourth-longest overtime touchdown in league history.

“Josh was really terrific today. He had a great game and we didn’t tackle as well as we needed to and we didn’t scheme as well as we needed to,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.

For most of the game, it appeared Las Vegas would squander its chance to win despite its unstoppable rushing attack. McDaniels twice decided to kick field goals instead of keeping his offense on the field. He also called a head-scratching toss sweep to Jacobs on fourth down in the fourth quarter that Seattle stopped.

But Carr was terrific on the tying drive in regulation. He went 6 of 8, including a spectacular one-handed catch by Davante Adams for 28 yards, and he floated the touchdown pass to Moreau perfectly into the back corner.

Seattle had a final chance to win in regulation and appeared to have a first down near midfield on Smith’s pass to DK Metcalf with 57 seconds left. But after a lengthy review it was determined Metcalf didn’t have control of the ball as he rolled over and hit the sideline. Smith was sacked by Maxx Crosby on the next play and Seattle punted.

INJURIES

Raiders DT Andrew Billings limped off the field in the fourth quarter and was later carted to the locker room. … Seattle S Ryan Neal suffered an elbow injury in overtime and backup Josh Jones took a poor angle on Jacobs’ winning run.

THROWBACKS

The Seahawks announced that sometime during the 2023 season the team will wear throwback uniforms with the silver helmets, blue jerseys and silver pants Seattle sported in the 1990s.

UP NEXT

Raiders: Host the Los Angeles Chargers next Sunday.

Seahawks: At the Los Angeles Rams next Sunday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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