Correa’s walk-off HR dedicated to Laredoan’s cancer battle

Astros shortstop Carlos Correa and his fiancee Daniella Rodriguez visited Laredoan Jalen Garcia on Friday at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Astros shortstop Carlos Correa and his fiancee Daniella Rodriguez visited Laredoan Jalen Garcia on Friday at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Photo: Instagram Photo: Instagram Image 1 of / 144 Caption Close Correa’s walk-off HR dedicated to Laredoan’s cancer battle 1 / 144 Back to Gallery

The walk-off home run Sunday night in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series was dedicated to United High School’s Jalen Garcia in support of his cancer battle as Astros shortstop Carlos Correa went deep for a 3-2 victory over the Yankees.

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In an Instagram story Sunday afternoon, Correa’s fiancee Daniella Rodriguez quoted him in a post to Garcia. It said, “Next home run I hit will be for you… When you see me pointing, I’ll be pointing at you. - Carlos J. Correa to Jalen Garcia (Laredo’s warrior fighting cancer)”

It took extra innings, but Correa delivered on his promise in a big way. Correa opened the scoring Sunday hitting a double to left field in the second inning to drive in Alex Bregman. He had two strikeouts and a fly out in his next three at-bats, but he delivered in his fifth chance at the plate.

After he recorded the final two outs of the 10th inning, the Yankees sent J.A. Happ back out to face Correa in the bottom of the 11th. The decision immediately backfired as his first pitch was a 94-mph fastball high in the strike zone. Correa sent it 394 feet to right field and delivered on his promise pointing to Garcia as he rounded first base.

As he rounded home plate at Minute Maid Park, the celebration was on with his home run for Garcia evening the series at 1-1. The Astros will attempt to take the lead and regain home-field advantage as the series shifts to New York for Game 3 at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Correa met Garcia fresh off winning the ALDS as he visited the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston with Rodriguez on Friday. Rodriguez is a Laredo native who won Miss Texas in 2016, and she graduated from United High School. She said in an Instagram post that she looked into setting up a visit as soon as she heard Garcia was in Houston.

Diagnosed at 13 with Osteosarcoma when he was in seventh grade, Garcia was forced to stop playing football and has been battling ever since. More than three years into his fight, Garcia has been at the cancer center since Aug. 13.

Garcia had a momentous week as his visit from Correa came just four days after a visit from his Longhorns teammates. With United on its bye week, head coach David Sanchez capitalized on the opportunity Monday as the entire team headed to Houston for a visit. They spent about three hours with him in the center’s recreation room. The visit with the player dubbed “Miracle Man” by Sanchez included the retiring of Garcia’s number 42 jersey.

While they hope to inspire Garcia in his fight, the Longhorns are in turn motivated by him. In a Twitter post about the visit, Sanchez said, “Today we took a day off from football to go visit our player, friend and inspiration Jalen. What a young man, his faith in God and will to live has been a blessing to our team, school and community. We love you Jalen. Jalen Strong!”

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Just like with Correa, Garcia’s inspiration has coincided with success for United. The Longhorns have won five straight games including a 2-0 start to District 29-6A play to open defense of last year’s 6-0 run to the title. UHS is coming off a 54-3 rout of Del Rio and takes on LBJ at 7 p.m. Thursday at the SAC.

jmack@lmtonline.com | Twitter: @jmacklmt