Martin Maldonado: Adolis Garcia Made Mistake to 'Wake Up' the Astros After HBP

The pitch from Bryan Abreu that hit Texas Rangers batter Adolis García did more than spark a benches-clearing brawl during Game 5 of the ALCS Friday night.

It also "woke up the Houston Astros," Astros catcher Martín Maldonado told Fox Sports after the game.

The Astros were trailing the Rangers by two runs at the time of the brawl. After the dust settled, a three-run homer from José Altuve earned Houston a 5-4 comeback win in the ninth.

García initially reacted to the hit-by-pitch by turning and confronting Maldonado.

After trailing 0-2 to begin the series, the Astros now lead the ALCS 3-2.

In García's prior at-bat, the Rangers outfielder had put Texas ahead in the bottom of the sixth by smashing a go-ahead three-run home run.

"I know he was upset because he hit the homer in the previous at-bat, and he could have took it that way," Maldonado said.

After the resulting brawl, García was one of the players ejected from the game.

After the contentious bottom of the eighth ended with two strikeouts, the Astros wasted no time beginning their comeback.

Yainer Díaz opened the final inning with a single and Jon Singleton orchestrated a walk to get two runners on base before Altuve stepped up to the plate with no outs on the board.

Despite that apparently immediate response, Astros manager Dusty Baker, who was ejected from the game alongside García, told reporters he didn't know if he agreed with Maldonado's assessment that the brawl sparked the late comeback.

"I wasn't seeing nothing," Baker said after the game, per USA Today's Bob Nightengale. "I was just seeing red, you know. I couldn't even see straight.''

No matter what sparked the comeback, it will be a happy Houston team heading back home for Sunday's Game 6. The Astros are now within one win of making it to the World Series for the third year in a row.