The Astros are hoping to become the second team in baseball history to come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series, and to do so, they’re drawing inspiration from the only team to ever do it.
After the Rays won the first three games against Houston to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the ALCS, Astros infielders Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa turned to the 2004 Red Sox for a little motivation. Correa told reporters (including SportsRadio610′s Adam Spolane) that between Games 4 and 5, he and Bregman watched clips from “Four Days in October,” the ESPN 30-for-30 documentary chronicling the Sox' epic comeback against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS.
“It was inspiring,” Correa reportedly said.
At that point, Houston was trailing 3-1 and needed to win three games in three days to reach the World Series for the second straight year and third time in four seasons. Since the viewing, Houston has won twice, forcing an unlikely Game 7 against the Astros on Saturday night.
In 2004, of course, the Red Sox went down 0-3 before winning two games at Fenway Park and completing their comeback with two wins at Yankee Stadium before sweeping the Cardinals to win their first World Series since 1918. No other team before the Astros had ever forced a Game 7 after going down 0-3.
In the NBA, three teams (the 1951 Knicks, 1994 Nuggets and 2003 Trail Blazers) came back to force a Game 7 but lost the decisive game. In the NHL, four teams have completed the comeback to win series after trailing 0-3 (the 1942 Maple Leafs, 1975 Islanders, 2010 Flyers and 2014 Kings) while five other teams forced a Game 7 and lost.
Lance McCullers will start for the Astros on Saturday night against former Astro Charlie Morton, who will get the ball for the Rays. First pitch from San Diego is slated for 8:37 p.m. ET.
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