Houston Takes Game 1 In Frigid Fenway
The Houston Astros traveling to play a Game 1 in an American League playoff series was a change of pace.
But not the results that followed.
The Houston Astros defeated the Boston Red Sox 7-2 on Saturday night at Fenway Park in Game 1 of the ALCS to take a 1-0 series lead.
Behind timely hitting with two outs, strong pitching and a late barrage of runs, the defending champion Astros are ahead to begin the ALCS.
It’s the first playoff series dating back to last season where the Astros have had to start a American League postseason series on the road.
For all of their credit as being a dominant powerhouse of a team, the Astros 3-6 road record in the postseason last year was a point of interest coming into this series for a team that finished an MLB-best 57-24 on the road.
Those whispers that they could struggle to open this series were quieted by the Astros as a team, who took playing at a frigid Fenway Park in stride.
Justin Verlander (2-0) picked up his 13th career postseason win to move into fourth place in all-time postseason wins by a pitcher.
The right-hander would allow two runs on two hits and four walks while striking out six over six innings of work.
The Astros struck first in Game 1 thanks to a bases loaded two-run single with two outs in the second inning by George Springer to give Houston a 2-0 lead.
Houston took advantage of a struggling Chris Sale, who walked two and hit one batter to set up the bases loaded situation to Springer despite retiring the first two batters in the inning.
It was a critical inning for the Red Sox left-hander, who needed 34 pitches in total on a chilly night at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox’ ace would be forced to exit the game after 86 pitches in four innings of work as he allowed two runs on one hit with four walks while striking out five.
Sale’s counterpart on the night Justin Verlander would get off to a strong start vs the Boston Red Sox, but would endure trouble in the fifth inning.
Verlander would load the bases in the fifth inning and would walk in a run to put Boston on the board. A wild pitch while pitching to Andrew Benintendi with two outs allowed Jackie Bradley Jr. to score from third base to tie the game at 2-2.
Following a questionable strikeout call on a fastball low and away to Andrew Benintendi to end the inning, Red Sox skipper Alex Cora would be ejected from the game for arguing the called strike that got Verlander out of the inning.
The Houston Astros would answer the Red Sox rally by rallying in the sixth inning. Carlos Correa would hit a two-out RBI single off reliever Joe Kelly to give the Astros a 3-2 lead.
Boston’s bats would fail to breakthrough vs Houston’s bullpen as Ryan Pressly, Lance McCullers Jr. and Collin McHugh would combine to give up one hit over three scoreless innings.
In the ninth inning the Astros would get two home runs to put distance between them and the host Red Sox. Josh Reddick would hit a home run for Houston which would be followed by a three-run home run to opposite field by Yuli Gurriel to make it a 7-2 game.
The Houston Astros were locked in a low-scoring game throughout despite getting into Boston’s bullpen by the fifth inning.
That didn’t bother A.J. Hinch’s team, however, as they got a strong performance out of their pitchers and put together a game-breaking four-run ninth to seal the win.
Houston went only 3-for-10 with RISP, leaving nine men on base, but the key hit in the sixth inning by Carlos Correa would be a momentum shifter in Houston’s favor.
Now up 1-0 in the series, they’ll look to take a commanding lead vs a Red Sox team scrambling for answers.
Alex Cora’s ejection on Saturday night seemed to be warranted given the situation as well as the team they were facing. With David Price set to take the bump on Sunday night, Boston will need a little more than fire from their manager to tie this series at 1-1.
Boston mustered only three hits on the night while third baseman Eduardo Nunez inability to make a play on a ball at third base as well as a throwing error in the sixth inning were costly mistakes.
Also closely were a staggering 10 walks surrendered by the Boston Red Sox, who used a total of six pitchers on Saturday night.
Game 2 is a must-win for Boston, and they’ll need to do it vs hard throwing righty Gerrit Cole who is coming off a historic 12-K performance in the ALDS vs the Cleveland Indians.
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