BOSTON – "When Mookie smiles, good things are happening," said Alex Cora, Red Sox coach, after his club's 7-5 win over the Astros in the second game of ALCS on Sunday.

The right-winger, Mookie Betts, did not decide to smile in his team's club after a defeat in the first game on Saturday. Betts, quietly addressing the crowd of reporters in his locker, then pointed out that the Red Sox had managed to overcome heavy losses throughout their 108-win season and he thought they would do it in this series, but he looked hard for himself. failed with the loaded bases and Justin Verlander apparently on the ropes in the fifth inning.

"I just did not do the work," Betts said Saturday. "It was a fast ball right in the middle, I just did not get a good run and I did not do the job. I must do my part. I did not do it. "

Betts, the presumed favorite of the AL MVP trophy after a regular season that earned him a .346 with a score of 1.078 OPS, played the second match of match 2 only Sunday against 4 – on a .200 average – with a success additional base in 2018. post-season.

But players like Betts do not stay cold for long. Before the match on Sunday, Astros manager A.J. Hinch called the offensive player "one of the most dynamic hitters of the game" and "time bomb" in the series. At the age of 26, he needed five grounds to explode on Sunday.

Fighting Astros starter Gerrit Cole, Betts scored 3-1 before throwing a fastball at 150 kph on the center of the court for a 1-2. He would score the first round of the Red Sox on a single hitter by Andrew Benintendi later.

"He was able to stay in the middle of the stadium and it was good," said Cora. "And I saw him smile, which is always good."

Betts then draws a goal in the seventh and scoring a goal by making an excellent play on a past ball. In the eighth, his double RBI in the center of the field comforted the advance of Sox. After the match, Betts postponed the credit.

"I'm going out and doing what I can to help the team win," he said. "Try to be consistent and get positive results, among other things. But it's not just me: we have 25 guys on the ground. "

David Price, the starter of the Red Sox in the match, was a little more eager to sing the praises of Betts.

"He is Mookie Betts," said Price. "He is the MVP of our team. He is the most useful player in baseball. He represents a lot for us. "

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If Sunday's win of the Sox has made Betts smile, his performance should make shine his teammates: Betts, who plays at its best, is too good to be neutralized even by an elite staff like the Astros, a talented hitter with patience, power and speed, and a big part of the reason the Boston club won 108 regular season games.

"We went out and did our thing," said Betts. "We have good strikes in our lineup, and I think when this lineup is extended and you start having base players throughout the training, the pitcher will have a long day."

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