It was more of the same for Springer from the Astros' victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series. Springer won the series MVP on the strength of a 1.471 OPS and five home runs.This is typically where one pays lip service to the notion that elite postseason performers have a special gene that makes them all sparkly under the October lights. The "clutch gene Shohei Ohtani Jersey ," they call it.But while Springer himself can't help but wonder about that, even he hesitated to buy completely into it."I just think it's one of those times where the lights get brighter, the stage gets a little bit bigger, and I think guys tend to concentrate more," Springer said after the ALDS, according to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. "You hone in on stuff, and, again, I don't know. I'm not going to complain about it. I'm happy that it happened."For what it's worth, Springer knows as well as anyone that October stardom can be easy come, easy go.Take how he started his postseason career. He collected only five hits in 23 at-bats in Houston's abbreviated October run in 2015. He caught fire (1.180 OPS) when the Astros took down the Red Sox in last year's ALDS, but the fire quickly went out. He went 3-for-30 over his next eight games. Included within was a golden sombrero (four strikeouts) in Game 1 of the World Series.To his credit, Astros manager A.J. Hinch refused to drop Springer out of the leadoff spot or out of the lineup entirely. He issued a vote of confidence instead, which didn't go unnoticed by the man himself."For him to have my back and say that, 'You're still going to hit first and you're still going to set the tone for us Brandon Phillips Jersey ,' it slowed me down," Springer told reporters.What followed was no ordinary World Series hot streak. Springer destroyed the Dodgers to the tune of a 1.693 OPS over the final six games. His five homers tied a World Series record. His 29 total bases set a new record.It ought to have been impossible for Springer to author a worthy follow-up to that performance this time around. But as ESPN's Buster Olney noted, he was back in record territory as soon as he slammed three homers against Cleveland:Buster Olney Buster_ESPNELIAS: Over his last 9 postseason games (dating back to Game 2 of 2017 World Series), George Springer is 17-for-39 (.436) with eight home runs. That鈥檚 tied for the most homers over a 9-game span in the postseason, done by three others: Reggie Jackson, Jim Thome, Carlos Beltran.Springer didn't go deep Saturday, but his single did run his postseason hitting streak to 10 games. Per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, that ties Lance Berkman for the longest in Astros history.Despite his occasional slumps, Springer now has a 1.008 OPS through his first 28 postseason games. That doesn't quite put him on the same level as Carlos Beltran (1.306) and Lou Gehrig (1.263) through the same stage, but it does sandwich him nicely in between Chipper Jones (1.010) and Paul Molitor (1.000).Ultimately, what the Astros have atop their lineup is a very good player who's totally locked in. Whether it's due to a special gene or blessing from the baseball gods, that's the reality of George Springer right now.Lucky for the Astros, they don't need to question it. They just need to enjoy it for as long as they can. Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Mitch Garver didn’t have time for any warmup swings, summoned as an injury replacement for Minnesota in the fourth inning.After two strikes by Oakland starter Trevor Cahill Luis Valbuena Jersey , that’s when Garver found his groove.With a two-run, pinch-hit double by Garver , the Twins overtook Cahill on their way to a 6-4 victory Thursday night that gave the Athletics consecutive losses for only the second time in more than two months.“It’s the hardest thing to do in any sport, come into a baseball game and pinch hit cold off the rack,” said Garver, who’d never before faced Cahill.Even still, Garver gave the Twins a 4-2 lead with his big hit after catcher Bobby Wilson sprained his right ankle backing up first base in the top of the inning.The A’s haven’t been cold all summer, so they’ll face a mild test in trying to recover. Having lost Wednesday afternoon to last-place Texas, Oakland dropped 1½ games behind AL West-leading Houston. The A’s are four games ahead of Seattle for the second wild card.“They don’t really worry about what happened the day before,” Athletics manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ve been on a nice little roll. When they take the field, no matter who we’re playing or who we’re starting, they feel like we’re going to win.”The A’s are 42-16 since June 16. Their only other losing streak since the turnaround began that day was a three-game sweep by Colorado from July 27-29.“