Alex Bregman, the 23-year-old Houston Astros third baseman, hit the game-tying homer to help his team rally to beat the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series on Monday. In this first-person account for Yahoo Sports, Bregman tells the story of the home run through his eyes.

I knew what pitch I was looking for before I even stepped in the batter’s box against Chris Sale. It was the change-up. Nothing else. Just the change-up.

The first pitch came — change-up, but way outside. Nope. Not swinging.

Let’s not change anything. Let’s stick to the plan.

The second pitch came — another change-up. And I swung and missed.

I might have just missed my shot.

• • •

View photos (Photo illustration by Amber Matsumoto/Yahoo Sports) More

A few minutes before this, I was standing in the on-deck circle when I heard Yuli Gurriel call out to me. I was about to have one of the biggest at-bats of my career against one of the best pitchers in the league.

“Oye,” he said and pointed toward the Green Monster. “Vamos, vamos.”

He wanted me to hit a homer? Me too. A bunch of people back in Houston would have loved that. We were down by one to the Boston Red Sox, one win away from advancing to the American League Championship Series.

A home run would be perfect, but I just wanted to help my team. We needed to do something. Ever since the Red Sox had put in Chris Sale we hadn’t been able to get any momentum. We need a hit, a base runner — something, somehow.

I had seen enough of Sale in this series to know the change-ups were coming. It was the first pitch he threw me in the sixth inning. I was too anxious, got too excited and I flew out to centerfield. In Game 1, he punched me out on a change-up. Six pitches, four change-ups. I’d been paying attention.

This at-bat, I wasn’t going to be anxious. I was going to force him to make the pitch and I was going to trust my hands and my swing.

• • •

The third pitch came — fastball, outside. Not for me. Not swinging.

If he gets me out on a fastball or a slider, good for him. I’m still looking change-up.

Sale thought it was a strike. The Fenway Park fans did too. I shook my head. I just wanted to give them the idea that I was looking for the fastball, even though I was sitting change-up the entire at-bat.

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View photos Alex Bregman, center with teammates Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Marwin Gonzalez. (AP) More

I was 5 years old when I started to imagine myself in these situations. A tight postseason game. Needing the big hit. My team counting on me. Even here in Fenway Park. My mom was a Yankees fan, so as a kid, I’d root against the Yankees to mess with her. I used to pretend I was hitting homers for the Red Sox.

I’d be in the backyard with my dad and he’d say, “The pressure is on. It’s the ninth inning with two outs. You need to come through for your team. This is to decide what we have for dinner tonight.”

This was more important than dinner. This was my first time in the playoffs, surrounded by a bunch of players I looked up to — proven veterans like Justin Verlander, Josh Reddick and Carlos Beltran; our younger stars like Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and George Springer.

When you’re young and in the big leagues, you don’t really feel like you belong until you start to contribute and start to help the team win. It’s the same in the postseason. I wanted to prove to them that I could help the team win. I had a couple of hits in Game 1, including a homer, but I was 0-for-10 since that. As I was heading to the plate, our bench coach Alex Cora stopped me.

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