Astros sweep Mariners with epic 18-inning win, advance to 6th straight ALCS

The Houston Astros' residency in the American League Championship Series continues.

The Astros advanced to the ALCS for an American League-record sixth straight season Saturday with a dramatic 1-0, 18-inning victory over the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park to sweep their best-of-five ALDS. Rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena broke the stalemate and sent Houston to the next round with a solo homer off Mariners reliever Penn Murfee in the top of the 18th.

Luis Garcia then worked a perfect bottom of the 18th, getting Julio Rodriguez to fly out to center field for the final out.

Pena is just the third rookie in MLB history to hit an extra-inning homer in a playoff game, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com. He joins Cleveland's Oscar Gonzalez, who did it last week against Tampa Bay, and the Astros' Chris Burke in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS - which also ended an 18-inning game.

The 18-inning affair is now tied with three others - Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS, Game 2 of the 2014 NLDS, and Game 3 of the 2018 World Series - for the longest in postseason history by number of innings. The 2005 game, featuring Burke's homer, also ended with the Astros clinching an LCS appearance.

Saturday's affair is the longest 1-0 game in postseason history, and the fourth-longest of all time when including regular-season contests, according to TSN StatsCentre.

The marathon also saw both teams combine for a postseason-record 42 strikeouts, according to ESPN's Marly Rivera. It's the first time in playoff history that both teams struck out at least 20 times.

The Mariners, playing in their first home postseason game since 2001, gave it everything they had while trying to extend their season. Rookie starter George Kirby dazzled with seven shutout innings against one of the most potent offenses in baseball. Kirby and nine relievers combined to strike out 20 Astros batters while issuing only one walk.

Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. countered Kirby with seven strikeouts in his six innings of work, but Houston's biggest star on the mound was Garcia. Normally a starter, Garcia entered the game in the 14th and proceeded to strike out six in five shutout frames while allowing only two hits.

Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel chipped in with three hits each for Houston, while second baseman Jose Altuve went 0-for-8 and ended his division series hitless. Carlos Santana was the only Mariners hitter who recorded a multi-hit game.

Houston's run of six consecutive ALCS appearances is now an American League record, surpassing the 1971-75 Oakland Athletics. The eight straight NLCS berths by the Atlanta Braves from 1991-99 remain the overall mark.

The Astros will face either the Cleveland Guardians or New York Yankees in the ALCS, which is scheduled to start Wednesday in Houston.