Game 1 of the American League Championship Series felt a lot like a normal regular season game between two veteran teams who had played each other a lot. The Yankees did what they do, which is hit home runs. The Astros did as well, but, as has been the case all season and postseason, it was the pitching that played the most pivotal role.
Justin Verlander bounced back from his miserable Game 1 performance in the ALDS to throw six innings allowing just one run on three hits and striking out 11. The Astros got just enough hitting from Jeremy Peña, Yuli Gurriel and Chas McCormick to hold off the Bronx Bombers 4-2 and take the game.
WINNERS
Justin Verlander
Verlander had not been good in several of his recent postseason starts including the six-run outing against the Mariners in the ALDS. But he was vintage JV on Wednesday night, spinning a gem, particularly in innings four through six, when he was nearly untouchable. The only run he surrendered was a homer to Harrison Bader. Like so many outings for Verlander this year, when he did give up a home run, it was a solo shot and he locked it down afterward. The 11 strikeouts were critical, particularly early in the game when he worked out of a situation with runners at second and third with only one out. He struck out the next two. He was the Cy Young Award winner we’ve been watching all season in Game 1.
Harrison Bader
The Yankees acquired their center fielder from St. Louis in August and fans were skeptical until they reached the postseason. Since then, Bader has been on fire, hitting four home runs in six games including last night off Verlander. He only had five in the entire regular season and none with New York.
Postseason Yuli Gurriel
For all the flack Gurriel took this season for his meager hitting, postseason Yuli is a different guy. He is 7-19 in the playoffs with a pair of home runs so far. The former batting champion has suddenly found his mojo and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Many of the Astros’ better hitters struggled on Wednesday, but Gurriel got hold of a pitch in the sixth and sent it into the Crawford Boxes. More of this Yuli please.
The unlikely Astros hitters.
Nevermind Gurriel. The combination of Jeremy Peña and Chas McCormick was revelatory for the Astros on Wednesday. McCormick had his first home run of the postseason and Peña hit his second in the eighth. Even Martin Maldonado chipped in with an RBI double. Winning teams often need to get contributions from up and down the lineup and throughout the pitching staff. With their best hitters held in check on Wednesday, some alternative heroes had to step up.
LOSERS
Big hitters on both sides.
Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker were a combined 0-12 in Game 1. In fairness, Alvarez walked twice and never got a good look at a pitch as the Yankees wisely stayed out of his wheelhouse. But, New York’s big bats weren’t much better. Gleyber Torres, Aaron Judge, Josh Donaldson and Matt Carpenter were a combined 0-13. Anthony Rizzo had a home run and Giancarlo Stanton had a pair of singles to at least help with the average of their top five or six guys slightly. But neither team had big nights from their big guns.
Rafel Montero
Montero has been lights out, like the rest of the bullpen, this postseason, but he just didn’t seem to have it in Game 1. He started out great striking out both Torres and Judge, but he gave up the long ball to Rizzo, a single to Stanton and walked Donaldson before being lifted for Ryan Pressly. It was an inning that could have gotten out of hand had he not recorded the two outs to start the inning.
Pitching to Yordan Alvarez.
The Yankees simply were not going to let Alvarez beat them. Not a chance. He saw almost nothing in the strike zone all night long and picked up a pair of walks to boot. Eventually, they are going to have to pitch to him, but for now, they will take the path of least risk even if it is a little weak on their part.
Yankee pitching
Props to the Yankees for being as good as they were considering they just played on Tuesday night, but they just didn’t have enough to hold the Astros in check when they needed it the most. Timely hitting and three long balls were costly for the Yanks and they ended up using five pitchers while the extremely deep Astros only threw four. Not a great start for a team already smarting from a long series.
Jeff Balke covers the Astros and Rockets weekly for the Houston Press and co-hosts the Bleav in Astros podcast with former third baseman and current Astros broadcaster Geoff Blum. Follow him on Twitter.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
