Are the Astros World Series bound? Or will Rangers force Game 7?

We'll be talking about the wild, raucous, downright electrifying Game 5 of the American League Championship Series for a long, long time -- it will certainly be a part of baseball lore in the state of Texas for decades to come. Dramatic homers! Bench-clearing scuffles! A postseason legend hitting one of the biggest postseason homers of his career! This is the good stuff. This is what we were waiting for.

The Astros have completely turned this series around, and now they're one game away from going to their fifth World Series in seven seasons. But nothing in this series has gone the way anyone has thought it would.

Here's a look at three key storylines for Game 6 of the ALCS.

Rangers at Astros
Astros lead 3-2
Nathan Eovaldi vs. Framber Valdez
8:03 p.m. ET, FS1

Storyline No. 1: Can this version of the Rangers rebound better than the team did the last time this happened?

We'll get to all the benches-clearing drama, don't worry about that, there is a lot to get to in the wake of Game 5, but you really have to lead with the disappointment. The Rangers' loss in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series -- which, we remind, the Rangers were one strike away from a World Series win twice -- is an all-timer of a postseason heartbreaker, but goodness gracious, Friday night was a soul-crusher in its own right. After Adolis García's homer and the benches clearing, Rangers fans were feeling like they'd turned the corner at last after two tough home losses. And then Jose Altuve, one of the most experienced postseason players in baseball history, came through with another legendary homer. That the Rangers made one last futile run at tying the game in the ninth just made it worse. Some losses are really, really hard to come back from. That sure looks like the textbook definition of one.

In 2011, after losing that memorable Game 6, the Rangers actually came out hot in Game 7 and scored twice in the first before their bats went silent in a 6-2 loss. Obviously, this roster is completely different, but for the fans, those feelings remain. How will this team bounce back?

Storyline No. 2: Is there more spice coming?

We all knew that the Rangers and Astros had plenty of history coming into this series. They're intrastate rivals, they ended up tied on the final day of the regular season, they've literally been having scuffles for nearly a decade now. But a benches-clearing brouhaha in the eighth inning of an ALCS that's tied 2-2? Now that's some bad blood. García's homer was this close to being the defining moment of this series, and what happened in his next at-bat is a sign of just how massive that homer felt in the moment. (On Saturday, pitcher Bryan Abreu was hit with a two-game suspension for hitting García intentionally. He can appeal.)

As we all know, the Astros came back to win the game, adding a whole other level of spiciness to a series that didn't really need any more of it. The Rangers will be playing for their lives in Game 6, but don't think that doesn't mean they're not still irritated by García being hit. These teams are playing for everything. And they dislike each other. How fun!

Storyline No. 3: Can the Astros win a home game?

The Rangers must have felt like, after winning two games at Minute Maid Park to start this series, as if they had finally gotten that monkey off their back. The Astros have been the big brother in this relationship in every possible way, including winning the AL West on the last day (thanks to their dominance over the Rangers during the regular season), but after those first two games, the Rangers sure looked like they were ready to turn the page on the past. All they had to do is win one, or maybe even two, games at home, a stadium they were fantastic at all season. They … didn't. The Astros, who were an MLB-best 51-30 on the road doing the regular season, won all three games in Arlington, and are now 5-0 on the road this postseason, but just 1-3 at home.

• Lupica: Game 6 the next act in already classic ALCS

The Rangers have been a tough team all year, and we've all seen how talented they are. As dispiriting as those three losses at home were, there has to be some confidence about their ability to win in Houston.