After the ALCS defeat at Houston Astros in Game 1, the New York Yankees will face a special challenge on Saturday evening in Match 2 (live from 10 p. m. on DAZN).While the Astros in the second round of the MLB playoffs suddenly score points with Small Ball, the power comes from Aaron Judge and Co.I don’t know what to say.At least in one point, the Bronx Bombers have an advantage.
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Houston’s left-fielder Marwin Gonzalez had barely started his press conference after the 2-1 defeat of the Yankees, when he was driven to the hospital in a hurry.Finally, his wife Noel was in labor there, the couple’s third child was on her way.He already had possible names for the offspring in his luggage.
“I’m considering calling him Jose Altuve or Dallas Panting.”
It would be a somewhat exaggerated dedication to the two team-mates, who were, however, superior in game 1 of the ALCS: Second Baseman Altuve delivered three hits, stole a base and scored the run to 1-0.Of course, the defense was right too.Starting Pitcher Keuchel puzzled the guests’ home run collectors, who struggled less with the speed of his pitches than with their placement and flight curves.Seven innings, zero runs, ten strikeouts.
However, if performance is what it’s all about, Gonzalez could simply vote for Marwin Junior.After all, he himself, the Astros all-purpose weapon that can be used almost anywhere, had prevented the Yankees from catching up in the fifth inning 1:2 with his sensational throw to the Home Plate.Maybe the most important play of the whole evening.
Whatever will end up on the baptismal certificate, it may not have been the only birth that night.The fans at sold-out Minute Maid Park in Houston could also have seen a small rebirth of their team.
After all, the Astros used completely new methods on their way to winning the series opener.A. J.’s troops are feared by A. J.’s managers.Hinch especially for her offense.Of course, Keuchel is an ace, just like Justin Verlander, who will be on the Mound on Saturday.But the Astros were catapulted to the second best result of the American League by their offense.
The winner of the AL West had played a proud 896 runs in 162 games.That’s more than 5.5 runs per game – the best balance in the MLB since the Yankees of all times in the 2009 season.And in the Division Series they continued with it, the Boston Red Sox flashed several times in the first inning and scored a total of 24 runs in the end.
There wasn’t much of that to see on Friday.Six hits, including none for Extra Bases, ended up in the end.Against Masahiro Tanaka, the first three innings were not a match at all.And with meagre run support, the balance in 2017 was correspondingly weak: In 57 games, you scanned three or less runs, and you could only win 18 of them.
But this time it worked with Small Ball.Infield single of Altuve in the fourth inning.Stolen Base.And then two RBI singles after that.Suddenly it was 2-0, a tight lead, which saved Pantheon and the Bullpen to the finish line.It’s the homeruns season – and Greg Bird also beat a homerun for the Yankees in the ninth inning.
But the victory went to the Astros.With that, the balance sheet against the pinstripes was raised to 6-2 this season.And statistically speaking, it now has a 64.5 percent chance of reaching the World Series.
We showed one of our qualities,”said Shortstop Carlos Correa,” We don’t necessarily have to do eight runs per game.We can still win games with only one run difference.”
Right Fielder Josh Reddick looked at it similarly:”We can win the important games, whether we’re way ahead of the pack, lagging far behind late in the game or just one or two runs ahead.This team covers all facets.”
Defense wins championships and so on.
The Yankees, of course, were all the more annoyed about the narrow defeat.An accidental throw from Gonzalez, here and there maybe a hit against Keuchel, and the playoff winning streak would have been removed and the favourite Astros would have been nested.”I was lucky with a few pitches,”admits Keuchel after the match.”We were in the game all the time.And we’re still in this series,”Bird emphasized.
But there is still a lot to do for manager Joe Girardi.After seven games in this postseason, Aaron Judge is only on four hits, but already at 17 strikes.It’s a similar story with the Designated Hitter: The players who have been used in the purely offensive position so far are still without any hits.Masahiro Tanaka’s bold performance is not enough.
It doesn’t get any easier in Game 2: Luis Severino is the best possible starter in his own ranks, a young fireballer who rehabilitated himself against the Indians after the cucumber in the Wild Card Game.But Houston also has an ace up his sleeve: Justin Verlander will get the ball.
It’s the 18th.Postseason start of the 34-year-old, who is still aiming for the high 90s on Radar Gun.If you look at his performance for us, he’s one of the hottest pitcher on the planet,”Hinch praised Supermodel Kate Upton’s friend,” and behind the scenes, he’s also someone who makes the difference “.
Five days after his stint as a relief in game four against Boston, Verlander is likely to be completely rested, so there is a potentially very close match yet again.Nevertheless, the Yankees’ starting position has improved considerably in one point: after 37 pitches on Friday, Houston may have to forego Closer Ken Giles.Conversely, Girardi has all the bullpen aces at her disposal: if his team takes the lead, Robertson, Chapman and Co.enormously shorten the game.
And what’s more, we’re used to being left behind in the record-breaking MLB championship after all, having been able to turn a 0-2 gap against the supposedly far superior Indians after all,”We’ve already shown that we can do it all year round,”said Judge,”We’re not behind in a series for the first time.Our attitude hasn’t changed a bit.”
No wonder that Altuve – for him Judge is the MVP, by the way – doesn’t want to know anything about an advantage.And his three hits of Game 1 has already ticked off:”[Saturday] I had no hit yet.I’m standing at zero.”
This article was published without prior view by the Major League Baseball.