Wild-card Astros taking party to New York for clash with Yankees

Bob Nightengale | USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX -- There is Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch, ignoring the live TV cameras in the middle of the clubhouse, giving a brief, profanity-laden celebratory speech, as his players sprayed him in the face with beer and champagne.

There is Astros outfielder Colby Rasmus, running around the clubhouse shirtless and feeling too exhilarated to even feel the ice-cold beverages being dumped over his head.

There is Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, walking around in a swim suit and flip-flops as if he's going to the beach, and not to the postseason, admiring it all in the back of the room with team president Reid Ryan.

The Astros, who have made their clubhouse celebrations legendary after regular-season victories, saved their best for Sunday, winning an American League wild card berth - even after losing, 5-3, to the Arizona Diamondbacks - and advancing to the postseason for the first time in 10 years.

They will be the Cinderella story of the postseason, facing the longest odds, beginning with a winner-take-all game Tuesday night against the powerful New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

Yet, instead of showing any fear, any disappointment that their loss prevented them from hosting the wild-card game, they actually are savoring the idea they're taking their act to New York.

This is where legends are made, and judging by the bravado displayed in the Astros' clubhouse, the Yankees should be the ones afraid.

Just listen.

"Nobody else outside this clubhouse thought we had a chance,'' Hinch yelled to his team in the middle of the clubhouse. "You can say a lot of things about this team, right?

"Well, the one thing they'll say forever, is that we're a (expletive) playoff team.

"It's going to take a few more wins, and we're going to have to earn them, but I'll bet on this team.

"I love you (expletives).''

Hinch is immediately doused by his players, the music is cranked back on, and the party continues.

They don't plan on stopping anytime soon.

The Astros, with kids barely out of high school, let alone old enough to drink, are convinced they'll beat the Yankees in that wild-card game.

"Every kid grows up dreaming of having that magical moment at Yankee Stadium,'' Luhnow said. "To play a wild card game there, it's a script you can't write. We have a chance to beat them. These guys are young, they're energetic, they can't be stopped.

"Hopefully, they'll be making a movie about this one day.''

The Astros believe they're a team of destiny, the team that was the laughingstock of baseball just two years ago, averaging 108 losses a year during a three-year stretch only to become the game's greatest surprise.

If you don't want to believe in them, show up Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, and they'll show you themselves.

"It's kind of cool it's Yankee Stadium,'' said Chad Qualls, 37, the only one in the clubhouse who was in the organization the last time the Astros reached the postseason in 2005. "It's not old Yankee Stadium, but in the same retrospect, it's still the New York Yankees, with their unbelievable history.

"It would be fitting for the Houston Astros, the team that's made noise all year, and come out of nowhere, goes into Yankee Stadium to see if we can beat them and move on.''

If you want to know the cold-hearted truth, underneath their beer-soaked T-shirts, the Astros actually are quite confident they'll be moving onto Kansas City and playing the Royals in the American League Division Series.

Really, can you blame them?

You see, they've got Dallas Keuchel on the mound Tuesday night, the same dude who likely will win the American League Cy Young award, and who overpowered the Yankees the two times he faced them during the season.

Ready for this? He's 2-0 with a 0.00 in 16 innings against them this year, limiting them to nine hits, one walk and 21 strikeouts. If you want to break down the numbers, they're even uglier for the Yankees: .161 batting average, .175 on-base percentage and .179 slugging percentage.

No wonder Hinch, with his eyes stinging from the champagne, refusing to wear goggles, had his arm draped around Keuchel in the clubhouse, giving him the official word that he will be the one starting Tuesday, pitching on three days' rest.

"I think he'll be just great, just like he has been all season,'' Astros center fielder Jake Marisnick said. "He's been doing it all year. We're ready to show people how good we are, and there's no one else we'd rather have than Dallas on the mound.''

Keuchel, the honoree of a quiet champagne toast Friday night by his teammates when he won his 20th game, says nothing could ever compare to the celebration on this day.

"This is my first time celebrating like this,'' said Keuchel, who suffered through seasons of 107 and 111 losses his first two years in the majors. "We had been so bad, and now look at us. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm the happiest guy in the world.

"Going to Yankee Stadium, it's the most electric atmosphere I've played in. I can't wait. It was a blessing getting to the playoffs, and now we're in, we'll try to run with it.''

The Astros' 111-loss season in 2013 prompted Luhnow to change his license plate to "GM111,'' to remind himself each day how much work needed to be one. Now, they can't help but feel that they're atop the baseball world.

"No matter what team we play,'' said All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve, unaware they were playing the Yankees, "we're going to go into the World Series.

"When we started this season, we closed our eyes, and as soon as we opened them, we were in first place, and we knew we have a big chance to be in this situation.''

Now, they have it.

The whole world is about to see it.

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