"I don't need to cheat, I have the ability to send Lin's ball out of the field!"

Thinking of this, Jose Altuve's eyes narrowed, and he assumed an aggressive batting stance.

Even though his height is only 168 cm, which is considered small even among ordinary people, Lin Guanglai would never underestimate Altuve even in the slightest.

The reason is simple: the 2017 season's Jose Altuve is undoubtedly the strongest hitter in today's league, comparable to a peak Ichiro Suzuki in terms of offense:

Since the 2014 season, he's been crowned the American League's hit king for four consecutive years. This season his batting average is as high as .346, contributing 24 home runs and 32 stolen bases, while his OPS reaches .957 and his WAR is 8.1, leading all hitters in the league in this aspect.

The most important thing is, Altuve's performance in this year's postseason has been extraordinarily strong, almost as if possessed:

Before this at-bat began, he's hit 12 hits in 21 at-bats, with an average batting average of .571, along with 3 home runs and 4 RBIs; and two of these were hit facing one of the American League's best pitchers this year, Chris Sale.

Therefore, even though the Yankees are just one out away from winning this game, it doesn't necessarily mean they can secure this victory — at least, Altuve wouldn't easily agree!

In the catcher's seat, Gary Sanchez adjusted his stance, signaling Lin Guanglai for a changeup: Altuve's ability to hit fastballs is one of the best in the league today, and in the previous three at-bats, he swung at the first pitch in two at-bats, able to pull the ball outside the coverage area of the shortstop, making Sanchez quite wary as a catcher.

Lin Guanglai nodded slightly towards his catcher, then turned his body and closed his glove, then swung his arm and sent the ball towards home plate: An 87 mph changeup flew towards the upper edge of the strike zone, dropping a little distance before reaching home plate, eventually landing in the strike zone — Altuve did not swing at this pitch.

"Strike!" The umpire raised his right arm, giving the corresponding call, and the count moved to 0 balls and 1 strike.

The second pitch came right after, and the Yankees wanted to repeat the trick, still aiming high, but keeping the drop point towards the inside of Altuve's strike zone.

But this time, Altuve in the batter's box moved: lightly tapping his front foot, he used the rotational power of his whole body to swing the bat towards the ball, firmly catching the incoming pitch.

Amid the chaotic cheers of the home Astros fans, the baseball flew high towards right field, while Brett Gardner, responsible for the Yankees' defense, sprinted furiously in the direction of the ball — ultimately stopping near the sideline, watching the baseball fly into the stands on the third base side.

"Oh—!!!" The home crowd let out a disappointed sigh, then offered encouraging applause towards their home star; while on the Yankees' side, catcher Gary Sanchez removed his mask and got up from the ground, also breathing a sigh of relief.

The downside of continuously pitching breaking balls is evident here: once the opposing batter quickly adapts to the pitch, it's easy to give up a long hit; but with the game in the final half-inning, Lin Guanglai's stamina is visibly decreased compared to the opening, and he has to guard against Astros' cheating, so Gary Sanchez, as a catcher, indeed had no choice but to do so.

With the advantage of 2 strikes in hand, Gary Sanchez squatted again, placing the glove outside the strike zone: his idea was to be prudent, laying down one or two pitches before going for the decisive move, but he got a continuous shake of the head from Lin Guanglai on the mound.

Lin Guanglai's idea is simple: against a top batter like Altuve, the longer the battle, the more unfavorable it is for them as pitchers; if there's a chance to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop, there's no need to prolong the situation.

Unable to argue with him, Gary Sanchez eventually chose to trust his pitcher's judgment: for this decisive pitch, Lin Guanglai opted for a fastball!

The pitching motion activated quickly, and after a powerful leg lift and turn, the kinetic energy accumulated in the body was entirely transmitted to the baseball in hand, forcefully spinning and with an upward trajectory, the baseball fiercely surged towards Altuve at home plate.

Facing the incoming ball, Jose Altuve wasn't intimidated in the slightest. As the league's strongest hitter in terms of hitting, he had full confidence in himself, simply lifting his front foot lightly, swinging the bat towards the incoming ball once more.

However, the bat in Altuve's hands ultimately sliced through the air like a hot knife through butter, aside from the sound of air being cut, it achieved nothing; almost simultaneously, Lin Guanglai on the pitcher's mound raised his arms, cheering loudly.

"Strike out!" the umpire declared with a drawn bow, "Game over!"

Minute Maid Park went completely silent, the disappointed faces in the stands turned visibly red; yet they hadn't been immersed in this emotion for long before seeing Lin Guanglai on the pitcher's mound making an extremely provocative gesture towards the audience:

He removed his glove from his left hand and tossed it onto the empty ground beside the mound, raised his arms to his ears, and made a circle towards the stands — his action seemed to be inviting the boos from the home Astros fans to get louder.

Soon, the Astros fans granted his wish: an overwhelming tide of boos swept towards the center of the field, angry faces full of rage leaned towards Lin Guanglai with all their emotions, hurling insults as if they were cost-free...

But Lin Guanglai didn't care, because the stronger the boos from the losers, the more they feared him — he is the victor of this game, he defeated the Astros, and that's enough for Lin Guanglai.

Embracing and celebrating with his teammates at his side, he clapped towards the few fans who had traveled to support the visiting team, and almost immediately after finishing this, Lin Guanglai was intercepted by a throng of media at the sidelines.

"Lin, congratulations on winning this game — now the series stands at 2-0. Considering the next three games are all at Yankee Stadium, do you think the Yankees are set to advance to the World Series?"

Although winning felt good, Lin Guanglai was clearly not carried away by victory. Faced with the reporter's pointed question, he simply smiled and said, "Food should be eaten bite by bite, games should be played one at a time — this is a principle every coach has taught me since I started baseball."

"A 2-0 lead only proves we performed better than our opponents in the last two games. Every upcoming game still demands a mindset as if starting from nothing, constantly maintaining a hunger for victory until we hold the trophy."

Another reporter asked, "Lin, today you pitched a complete game shutout, looking at the entire match, the situation in the bottom of the first inning was one of the rare chaotic moments you encountered early on. Could you tell us what happened then?"

Upon hearing this question, Lin Guanglai's lips curled into a peculiar smile, "Hm... about that bases-loaded situation, besides some issues with myself, I also noticed some things I'm not at liberty to disclose yet, but I'll discuss them with the coach and top management team, and I believe you'll find out in the future."

Regarding the Astros possibly cheating, Lin Guanglai didn't intend to tell the media at this stage: as they lacked concrete evidence, disclosing prematurely could attract troubles. Priorities remain on this current series.

However, he will truthfully report the matter — if the Astros indeed employed any means of cheating, then the Yankees and every team in Major League will surely ensure they face due punishment!

The interview process went exceptionally smoothly, quickly arriving at the final question: "Lin, Astros' star Jose Altuve stated that in the upcoming games, they will give their all to tie the score and bring the series back to Houston — do you have anything to say about this?"

Upon hearing this question, Lin Guanglai's expression turned slightly serious, and he spoke word by word:

"Trust me, they won't have a chance."

"This series will end completely in the Bronx!"