Yankees vs. Astros 2017 live stream: Time, TV channel, and how to watch ALCS Game 7 online

There are few phrases in sports more precious than “Game 7,” and we are treated to that on Saturday night, with the Houston Astros and New York Yankees concluding their American League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park in Houston (8 p.m. ET, FS1), fighting for a right to advance to the World Series.

The home teams have won all six games in this series, including a 7-1 victory by the Astros on Friday night behind Justin Verlander to force this winner-take-all matchup.

Just four times in MLB history has a seven-game series featured no road wins. The last occurrence involved the Astros, who lost Game 7 of the NLCS on the road to the St. Louis Cardinals. Saturday night marks the 13th anniversary of that game.

CC Sabathia gets the start for the Yankees, looking to continue his stellar postseason. The 37-year-old has a 2.30 ERA in three starts this October, with 19 strikeouts and seven walks in 15⅔ innings. After a New York loss this season, Sabathia is an incredible 10-0 with a 1.69 ERA, including six scoreless frames in Game 3 of this series at Yankee Stadium.

Charlie Morton took the loss in that Game 3, and he starts for the Astros on Saturday, but in reality nearly everyone will be available both pitching staffs.

“We’re going to have all hands on deck. You’re going to see a game played tomorrow with everybody available, obviously,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said after the Game 6 win. “Probably not Verlander, but he’s superhuman, so we’ll see how he shows up tomorrow.”

Verlander threw seven scoreless innings on Friday night, and Hinch wouldn’t rule him out for Saturday in relief, if needed. From Brian McTaggart of MLB.com:

“It’s Game 7, so I can sort of play it cool and tell you we’ll be careful and see what happens,” Hinch said. “We’ll have as many of them available as much as we can. Obviously, Verlander would be a dream scenario to have him. But it’s a lot to ask out of him. I will have a conversation with him.

“No one will really know what the end result is going to be unless you see him warm up. My hope is that we get through the game however we need to. And obviously, we’ll protect Justin’s health. We’re not going to do something stupid for him. These guys really want to win. Dallas has let me know he’s going to be available. Lance I already know on three days’ rest is plenty rested and will be available. I expect us to have a lot of volunteers to pitch to get the outs.”

Joe Girardi has managed the Yankees for 10 seasons but his contract is up after this season. The Yankees should absolutely extend his deal, says Brock Hammond at Pinstripe Alley:

The 2017 Yankees couldn’t be more different. Not only are the regulars much younger, but several prospects earned meaningful playing time over the course of the season. If it weren’t for the matching uniforms, the contrasts between the 2012 and 2017 rosters make them completely different teams. The fact that Joe Girardi has been able to find success with both teams is a testament to his skill not only as a manager of baseball players but a manager of personalities.

Girardi has taken some flak for his managerial tendencies, especially in the past few weeks, but quantitatively speaking, Girardi is one of the best in the league. Quantitative measurements of a manager’s effectiveness are rather new statistics extremely difficult to measure, but Girardi ranks among the best in many categories.