Yordan Alvarez and the Houston Astros were in must-win territory in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Wednesday night — and the defending World Series champions came through with a crucial 8-5 win over the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field.

“There was no other option,” Alvarez explained after the game, according to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez. “The only mentality was to go out and win. I've said it before — there's no panic here. We showed that.”

Alvarez was excellent for the Astros in Game 3, smacking two hits and driving in as many runs while being robbed of a home run by Leody Taveras. It would have been his seventh home run in seven playoff games in 2023. He came to play in a game that Houston absolutely had to win.

“We've been punched in the mouth a lot during the postseason over the last seven years,” Astros 3B Alex Bregman said. “We just try to continue to show up and try to continue to work.”

It's certainly a winning mentality for a team that has won two World Series titles since 2017, and advanced to seven consecutive AL championship series.

But it's still an uphill climb; no MLB team in history (besides the bubble postseason in 2020) has lost two home games to begin a league championship series and gone on to advance, per Gonzalez.

“Few teams, however, are built like these Astros, who have reached their seventh consecutive ALCS and have overcome enough adversity in that time to fill a memoir,” wrote Gonzalez on Thursday. “In their minds, they've faced bigger challenges than winning four out of five playoff games.”

The crucial Game 3 win halted a seven-game streak for the Rangers, who have been unbeatable throughout the postseason until Wednesday. But Houston knows exactly what it takes to win in October, and they used their considerable playoff experience to get themselves back in the series.

The two Texas-based franchises will be back at it again on Thursday night in Arlington, with Jose Urquidy and Andrew Heaney lined up to start. First pitch is set for 8:03 ET between the extremely evenly matched squads.