Four more victories to the World Series is the motto for the Houston Astros and New York Yankees when the American League Championship Series kicks off on Saturday night (from 2:00 a. m. live on DAZN).SPOX looks at the duel of the AL’s top offensives and dares to make a forecast.
nearby
Initial situation: While the Houston Astros had already finished last Monday’s series against the Boston Red Sox after four games, the New York Yankees needed all five games to defeat reigning American League champion Cleveland Indians.
Astros had no trouble in the first two games against Sox – both games went to Houston 8-2.Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel convinced and never let the Sox get going.Game 3 saw a rebellion of Boston while Game 4 became the closest match of the series.The Astros won 5:4 and got a relief appeal from Verlander, who finally went off the field as the winner.
New York, on the other hand, lost the first two games in Cleveland, with only the first match being a clear box.It was no coincidence that it was also the worst performance of a Yankee starter in the ALDS, as Sonny Gray had control problems and had to leave early on.Game 2 was overshadowed by Manager Joe Girardi’s non-Challenge, who apologized publicly the following day.
The Yankees were a nail-biting point for the Yankees, who then won both home games with strong starts from Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka, both of whom went over seven innings.Game 5 was then dominated by the bull’s-eye, which ultimately made the difference in favour of the Yankees.Like in the wildcard game against the Minnesota Twins, when the Yankees mastered 8 2/3 shut-out innings with reliefs.
This season, however, both teams met seven times and the Astros won five of these duels.
Players to watch: For the Yankees, there is little change compared to the ALDS, because the Astros are also a very strong competitor and they have won more than 100 games in this regular season.But while the Indians were mainly known for their pitching, the Astros are primarily coming through their offs – only they have more runs in the season than the Yankees!
Nevertheless, the starters of games 1 and 2 are still in the foreground.The series will be opened by left-hander Dallas Keuchel, who has been a nightmare for New York so far – he has a 1.24 ERA in seven starts against New York including the Wild Card Game of 2015 and is 5-2 against the Bronx Bombers.Moreover, the Yankees only beat. 184 against Keuchel, who has not lost any of his four post-season appearances.
Verlander, perhaps the hottest AL pitcher of the day, is also in focus.He’s 6-7 against the Yankees with a 3.87 ERA in 18 starts.Considering that the bullpen of the Yankees is probably better occupied than the Astros, it will depend a lot on how the two top people of the Astros rotation operate, since New York with Masahiro Tanaka, Luis Severino, CC Sabathia and Sonny Gray probably offers a deeper rotation.
In Tanaka’s case, however, it will be exciting to see how he performs abroad.At home, the Japanese dominated and was 9-5 with a 3.22 ERA in 15 starts.Outside, however, he was 4-7 with a 6.48 ERA (15 starts).Aggravatingly, Tanaka is 0-2 with a 10.38 ERA against the Astros in four starts.Not a good basis for the start of the series for New York.
The MVP candidate duel between Second Baseman Jose Altuve and Right Fielder Aaron Judge will be a special duel in this series.Altuve outran against Boston and defeated. 533 with an insane OPS of 1,765.Judge, who collected 15 strikes against Cleveland and set a new postseason series record.He was also 1-20!Will Altuve keep his hot form and can Judge be a factor in this series?
Prognosis: There will be a tough battle between the two best run producers of the American League.Astros will need to get a good performance from their starters, a bullpen duel with these Yankees would be more likely to go to New York.The Yankees, on the other hand, have to continue where they left off against Cleveland: let the big-name starters work and take them out of the game as quickly as possible.We end up with seven fiercely contested games with a Texas happy ending.Astros in 7!
This article was published without prior view by the Major League Baseball.