We’ve now entered the Championship rounds of the postseason and as far as the ALCS is concerned, the Houston Astros will be heading into Game 2 with the upper hand after they managed to edge the Yankees with a 2-1 victory. They did so with their ace pitcher Dallas Keuchel coming up huge for them in the first game of this series.
Dallas Keuchel threw a gem to give the Astros Game 1 of the ALCS
Saturday’s Say Hey, Baseball examines the absolute gem of a game that Dallas Keuchel threw in Game 1 of the ALCS. Plus, Marwin Gonzalez made an amazing throw to aid Keuchel as well.
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One of the underlying storylines for this year’s postseason has been how precarious the early innings have been for starting pitchers. We’ve seen managers go to their bullpen at the first sign of trouble, so even though it sure seemed like a pitcher’s duel was in the cards when you looked at the two starters, there was still a chance that things could go sideways and we could see yet another bullpen game in the playoffs.
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However, Dallas Keuchel got through the first inning unscathed, and that set the tone for the rest of his outing. By the time Keuchel left the game following the seventh inning, he’d racked up 10 strikeouts with only one walk allowed and zero runs allowed. The performance from Keuchel landed him in elite company in Astros playoff history — his 10 strikeouts tied a franchise record that was held by Mike Scott and Nolan Ryan.
Thanks to a rally in the fourth inning that was kicked off by none other than Jose Altuve, the Astros were able to pull together two runs, and that was enough to put them in the lead for good. It was also enough to make sure that Dallas Keuchel’s gem of a performance wouldn’t be wasted. It also helped that Houston’s bullpen chipped in four strikeouts as well, which brought the tally for the entire game up to 14. It would be a shock if the Yankees’ offense remained this quiet and confused for the rest of the series, but for this night in particular, New York had absolutely no answer for the arms that they were facing.
Houston will now pass the pitching baton to Justin Verlander for Game 2, and if he comes anywhere close to Keuchel’s quality from Friday night, then the Astros will be heading to the Bronx with a solid advantage.
- After what happened in Game 5 of the NLDS between the Cubs and Nationals, Grant Brisbee is convinced that replay is broken. He does have a plan to fix it, though.
- Marwin Gonzalez had a moment of glory in the fifth inning of Friday night’s game. He made a perfect throw from the outfield to nail Greg Bird at the plate and keep New York off the scoreboard.
- Even though Dallas Keuchel came out on top, Masahiro Tanaka’s efforts for the Yankees can’t be overlooked.
- Meanwhile, the NLCS is set to begin Saturday and the Dodgers may be without Corey Seager.
- Speaking of the NLCS, the crew at Bleed Cubbie Blue took a look at all of the games that the Dodgers and Cubs played against each other this season.
- The Nationals missed out on yet another chance to make the NLCS, and Dusty Baker’s reaction shows just how tough of a loss it was for Washington.
- The Red Sox fired John Farrell after he failed to guide the Red Sox to the ALCS, and the team at Over The Monster believes that Boston doesn’t need a veteran manager.
- The Padres are nowhere near the playoffs, but a survey from Gaslamp Ball seems to indicate that their fans want the team to return to the glory days of brown uniforms.
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