The American League Championship Series is officially underway, and Dallas Keuchel got the best of the New York Yankees in Game 1.
- New York Yankees: 1 (0-1)
- Houston Astros: 2 (1-0)
- ALCS Game 1, FINAL, Box Score
- Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX
Dallas Keuchel was too much for the New York Yankees to handle Friday night, as he punched out 10 over seven shutout innings en route to a series-opening win for the Houston Astros.
New York’s offense managed one run on five hits off Astros pitching and wasted a quality outing from Masahiro Tanaka, who allowed just two runs on four hits in six innings of work.
On the flip side, Houston’s offense backed their ace’s stellar start with a two-run fourth inning, starting with a one-out single by Jose Altuve. After the MVP stole second base, Carlos Correa drove in Altuve with the first run of the ALCS with a single to left field.
Marwin Gonzalez followed with a fielder’s choice, pushing Correa into scoring position. Yuli Gurriel followed with a single to center to score the young shortstop and put the Astros up by a score of 2-0.
Keuchel would finish his day with 10 punchouts in seven innings, improving his 2017 postseason ERA to 0.59 through two starts.
Chris Devenski relieved him in the eighth, but after he allowed a walk to Brett Gardner, Astros’ manager AJ Hinch called on closer Ken Giles for a five-out save with one out in the eighth. He got out of a jam by inducing a groundball out via Aaron Judge and striking out Didi Gregorius on a nasty low slider.
Giles returned in the ninth and struck out Starlin Castro and Aaron Hicks, but surrendered a solo blast to Greg Bird to trim the lead in half. The 27-year-old battled back, however, and sent Jacoby Ellsbury down via strikes, securing the Game 1 win by a score of 2-1.
Hoston, We Have The Same Problem:
Keuchel entered play with a 5-2 record and a 1.24 ERA in seven career starts (six in the regular season, one in the postseason) against the Yankees and his dominance continued tonight.
With 10 strikeouts, the southpaw became the 19th starting pitcher in postseason history to strike out at least 10 starts against the Yankees. The last was Max Scherzer, who fanned 10 Yankees’ hitters in Game 4 of the 2012 ALCS.
After seven shutout innings tonight, Keuchel now owns a 1.09 ERA (seven earned runs in 57.2 innings) in nine career starts, including the playoffs.
Play Of The Game:
Struggling slugger Aaron Judge came through with two men on with two outs in the fifth, but Astros’ outfielder Marwin Gonzalez silenced the big moment with an impeccable throw.
On a line drive base hit to left, Gonzalez fired a missile to home that nailed first baseman Greg Bird trying to score from second. Although Bird inexplicably got a bad jump with two outs, it needed a perfect throw from left and a perfect throw is what Gonzalez delivered.
What’s Next:
The Yankees will look to even the series up at one apiece on Saturday, as they play the Astros in Game 2 on FOX Sports 1 or on the radio on WFAN 660AM/101.9FM and on ESPN Radio. Luis Severino will get the start against Justin Verlander with first pitch scheduled for 4:08 p.m. ET