Astros Strong

by Houston Chronicle

  Jose Altuve throws over New York Yankees first baseman Greg Bird as he turns a double play on a grounder by Starlin Castro in Game 4. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle)

  “We have to keep fighting,” designated hitter Carlos Beltran said. “It wasn’t going to be easy.”

  McCullers pitched the best he had since a June 8 start at Kansas City when he allowed only two hits in seven innings of one-run ball. The lone run he gave up Tuesday came on the final pitch he threw, a first-pitch power curveball that Judge blasted out to center field. McCullers allowed only two hits and two walks.

  “It’s the best I’ve felt in many, many months,” he said. “I’ve been trying to tell anyone with ears that, but it seemed like it was not being heard all the time.

  “I’m glad I got an opportunity to show the team that I feel good, and I’m ready to go moving forward.”

  The Astros led 4-0 midway through the sixth inning. Sonny Gray matched McCullers for the first five innings before Yankees manager Joe Girardi lifted him with runners on first and second base for Jose Altuve. After Altuve drew a walk against David Robertson, Yuli Gurriel delivered the game’s biggest swing to that point with a three-run double down the left-field line.

  Gurriel’s double alone drove in the most runs the Astros have scored in any of the four games of this series. Marwin Gonzalez doubled off Chad Green in the seventh and scored on the second of two fielding errors committed by second baseman Starlin Castro.

  After Judge’s homer spelled the end of McCullers’ night, Devenski narrowed the score further by allowing a triple to Didi Gregorius and a sacrifice fly to Sanchez. A walk of Greg Bird ensured his exit, and Musgrove was called on to escape the inning.

  Hinch sent Musgrove back out for the eighth, and the righthander promptly allowed consecutive singles to Todd Frazier and pinch hitter Chase Headley. On his hit to the left-center field gap, Headley stumbled between first and second base. The relay throw from the outfield came in to shortstop Carlos Correa, who adhered to the instructions of a teammate yelling “one, one” and fired to first base.

  Lance McCullers Jr. pitches to Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez during the fourth inning of Game 4. McCullers pitched six strong innings, giving up only one earned run. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle)

  Headley continued on toward second base. Gurriel received Correa’s throw and fired back to Altuve at second in time to get Headley. But Altuve was late to make the tag.

  “I think (Gurriel) made a really good throw,” Altuve said. “But you know, I’m 5-5. Headley was like 6-something. So he kind of like blocked me, and I decided to take a step back to make sure I catch that ball. If I don’t do it, I don’t think I would’ve caught that ball.”

  The sequence spelled the end of Musgrove’s night. Hinch tabbed Giles to face the top of the Yankees’ order. Brett Gardner plated Frazier from third base on a groundout to Altuve before Judge unloaded on a Giles slider for his double.

  A Gregorius single put runners on the corners for Sanchez, who capitalized on a mistake pitch by Giles. In a 2-and-0 count, the Astros closer intended to pitch inside to Sanchez. Instead, he left a 98 mph fastball over the plate.

  “We just couldn’t get the inning to end,” Hinch said. “We were trying to match up and get and make pitches. They were putting really great at-bats together. Even their outs, they had productive outs. Nobody likes that term, but they got 90 feet whenever they needed to, whether it was the sac fly or Gardner’s ground ball to second base.

  “The key really in that inning is not turning Headley’s ball into an out. We had an out – obviously, Carlos was making an athletic play, Yuli makes an athletic play, Jose tries to tag him, it goes to replay, and we don’t get the out. Looking back, I think that was a big play because it set up a ton of pressure on us for the rest of the inning with guys all over the place.”

  All is Amiss

  Keuchel Gets No Backing as Team Batting Average Falls to .147 for Series

  By Jake Kaplan

  American League Championship Series Game 5

  October 18, 2017 • New York City, New York

  Yankees 5, Astros 0

  If the Astros fail to win the two consecutive games they require to advance to the World Series, their American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees will be remembered for the mystifying disappearing act of their major league-best offense.

  Their offensive struggles in the ALCS reached a nadir in a 5-0 loss in Game 5 at Yankee Stadium. Shut out for the first time in the playoffs since the final game of the 2005 World Series, they managed only four hits a day after mustering just three.

  A third straight defeat in the Bronx left them headed home on the brink of elimination. The Yankees lead the best-of-seven series three games to two. Game 6 is Friday at Minute Maid Park. The Astros will start their best pitcher in Justin Verlander. His performance will go only so far if their bats can’t hit the Yankees’ best, Luis Severino.

  Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka shut down the Astros for the first seven innings of Game 5 before handing the baton to reliever Tommy Kahnle. The Astros were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, dropping their series total to 4-for-27.

  The offense’s regression from the regular season has been staggering. A group that produced 5.5 runs per game has scored only nine times in five ALCS games. The Astros batted an incredible .282 with a .346 on-base percentage and .478 slugging percentage in the regular season. They are slashing a putrid .147/.234/.213 in this series.

  Carlos Correa’s solo home run in Game 2 at Minute Maid Park signifies the Astros’ only long ball of this series. They hit 1.47 homers per game in the regular season.

  A sampling of the individual numbers looks just as ugly.

  •Josh Reddick is 0-for-17.

  •George Springer is 2-for-18.

  •Alex Bregman is 2-for-17.

  •Marwin Gonzalez is 2-for-15.

  •Carlos Beltran is 1-for-12.

  •Brian McCann is 0-for-10.

  •Collectively, the Astros have a mere 22 hits in 150 at-bats.

  “From what I see, it seems like we’re trying to do way too much in the box,” said Reddick, who in the regular season never went more than two consecutive games without a hit. “Everybody’s trying to be the one guy who can put the team on their back with one swing, and I think that’s one thing that we can’t really get too focused on.

  Brad Peacock walks back to the mound as Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning of Game 5. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle)

  “We’ve got to keep the line moving. We’ve been so great all year chaining together hits one after another. We’ve just got to get back to that.”

  The anemic Astros offense left ace lefthander Dallas Keuchel little margin for error Wednesday. And for the first time in nine career starts against these Yankees, he was knocked around some.

  Keuchel, who had allowed seven earned runs in his 57 2/3 previous innings against the Yankees, allowed four in only 4 2/3 frames Wednesday. The Yankees tagged him with seven hits, including two doubles. Three singles in a five-batter span in the fifth chased Keuchel from the game.

  The outing inflated Keuchel’s career ERA against the Yankees a half-run, from his incredible 1.09 to 1.59. He had allowed more than two earned runs in a start against them only once before, on Aug. 21, 2014, when he gave up just three in eight innings.

  “I knew I had my hands full today with the way their starters have been throwing against us,” he said. “But at the same time, I thought coming into it we had a great game plan and with the pitches we’ve been throwing and strategy and the counts that it was going to be another pitchers’ duel. It just didn’t go our way, and we’ll look to regroup and get back to Houston.”

  The second inning contrasted the states of these two offenses. In the
top of the frame, the Astros squandered a leadoff double by Yuli Gurriel. In the bottom, the Yankees capitalized on a two-out double by Starlin Castro when Greg Bird ripped a single to the right-field corner.

  Gonzalez provided another prime scoring opportunity for the Astros in the fifth. After ripping a single to right field off Tanaka, he advanced to second on a wild pitch. McCann worked a walk to bring up the top of the order, which during most of the regular season would have meant doom for the pitcher.

  But Springer and Reddick both struck out against Tanaka. Springer was caught looking at a fastball at the knees on the outside corner. Reddick chased a splitter outside.

  Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel reacts as Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner hits a grounder to first, with Chase Headley getting forced out at second during the third inning of Game 5. Keuchel had a rare poor outing against the Yankees, giving up four earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. (Michael Ciaglo/Houston Chronicle)

  Tanaka struck out eight and issued only one walk in his seven innings. The Astros, according to Hinch, got “pull happy” against the Japanese righthander. He induced 10 outs on the ground and four in the air.

  “He was pitching on the edges. That’s what he does. That’s his MO,” Bregman said. “He’s going to throw fastballs on the edges to both sides of the plate. He’s going to throw splitters down in the zone, and his slider was good tonight. It was on the edges.

  “He’s a good pitcher, and we didn’t capitalize when we needed to. We just need one big swing – one big swing to get us going – and the offense will be back.”

  Keuchel struck out eight in his 4 2/3 innings and walked only one, but his outing was doomed by the Yankees’ two-run fifth.

  Chase Headley began the Yanks’ biggest rally with a one-out single on which he reached second after Bregman’s throw skipped past Gurriel. A groundout by Brett Gardner brought Keuchel one out from escaping unscathed.

  With Judge due up next, Hinch jogged out to the mound, and the infield convened around Keuchel. The meeting was brief. Keuchel pitched to Judge, but carefully. A walk set the stage for Gary Sanchez, one of the Yankees’ Game 4 heroes.

  Sanchez ripped a single down the left-field line that scored Headley. Didi Gregorius ran his count full before singling up the middle just past diving second baseman Jose Altuve. The three consecutive New York baserunners prompted the end of Keuchel’s outing. As he walked toward the dugout, the Yankees fans sitting behind the Astros’ dugout waved him goodbye.

  In the visitors’ clubhouse after the game, before the Astros packed their bags and boarded a flight for Houston, veterans Beltran and McCann led a team meeting.

  “The message was that we cannot feel sorry about ourselves. We won the first two games, we lost the three games here, and now we’re going to have the opportunity to go home and try to do what they did here,” Beltran said. “Win the next two games and try to move on to the next round. That’s the mentality.

  “I told them that it wasn’t going to be easy. Even though you win the first two games, we have to understand that we’re coming here to their home. They’ve been able to play good games here, so that’s what they did. ... You have to give them credit, but at the end of the day, we have to be able to as a team turn the page and move on and look to what is ahead of us.”

  An Ace in Place

  Verlander Continues Remarkable Run, Forces Game 7

  By Brian T. Smith

  American League Championship Series Game 6

  October 20, 2017 • Houston, Texas

  Astros 7, Yankees 1

  They wanted and needed him, so he finally joined them.

  Aug. 31: the day that forever changed the 2017 Astros.

  When they won the American League West, Justin Verlander owned the mound and then joyously ran around the field.

  When they handed him the ball out of the bullpen for the first time in his career during Game 4 of the American League Division Series, he held off the Red Sox in the Fenway Park rain, then his new team clinched and sprayed champagne.

  And in the biggest, most critical game of this thrilling season – the wild-card Yankees one win away from the World Series; the 101-win Astros holding on, trying to survive for one more day – Verlander was playoff perfection once again.

  It’s ridiculous, really. Hollywood and storybook-like.

  Being so untouchable on a national stage, over and over again, when he’s brand new in orange and blue.

  In the AL Championship Series: 16 innings, 21 strikeouts, one measly earned run.

  In elimination-game playoff starts: 4-1 with 41 K’s and a 1.21 ERA.

  With the team that wanted and needed him, and is just one win away from the World Series because of him: a perfect 9-0 with 67 strikeouts and a surreal 1.23 ERA.

  Verlander has two of the Astros’ three victories in the ALCS and four playoff wins in 2017.

  If his new club captures Game 7 against New York on Saturday night back at Minute Maid Park, the 34-year-old righthander who has absolutely owned October will soon be facing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

  “He’s been everything that we could have hoped for and more,” said manager A.J. Hinch, after the Astros took Game 6 7-1 on Friday behind seven more scoreless innings from Verlander and tied the series 3-3. “This guy prepares.

  Justin Verlander continued his remarkable postseason with seven dominant innings, giving up no runs and striking out eight. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle)

  “He rises to the moment. He’s incredibly focused and locked in during games, and emptied his tank (Friday).”

  George Springer leapt toward the roof near the 404-foot mark in center field at the perfect time.

  Brian McCann broke through.

  Jose Altuve went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and clubbed his fourth home run of the postseason.

  Carlos Correa and Yuli Gurriel answered Aaron Judge’s solo shot in the eighth inning with back-to-back hits as the Astros’ bats finally woke up and cracked wood for the first time in this series.

  “I believe in my team. (Saturday) is going to be a good night,” Altuve said.

  But just as in Game 2 of the ALCS – 124 pitches, nine old-school innings, 13 K’s – Hinch’s club doesn’t capture win-or-end Game 6 and move one step closer toward the Fall Classic without No. 35.

  Yankees moment?

  Try Astros history. And MLB: Verlander is the first pitcher in baseball history with three consecutive scoreless starts in elimination games and hasn’t allowed a run in 24 straight innings during elimination starts.

  “There’s no point in saving anything. … It’s just kind of I’m out there until I’m not out there any longer,” Verlander said. “In season, you sometimes have, OK, you get deep in the game here, let me try to save some pitches.

  “In a playoff, that’s out the window, specifically in a 0-0 ballgame in a decisive game.”

  Verlander’s run is among the greatest and most important for the Astros since major league baseball arrived in this city in 1962.

  All the trade rumors and prospects-for-an-October-ace questions that surrounded the Astros for weeks – months, really – during the will-they-or-won’t-they buildup toward Aug. 31?

  Perfect hindsight now.

  “He’s one of the greatest pitchers of our generation,” said Charlie Morton, who’ll take the mound for the Astros in the ALCS finale.

  Verlander was what they needed, willingly changing cities and colors minutes away from the deadline.

  An artist, a stopper, a powerhouse throwback (and a reliever) who has thrown the Astros into a Game 7 for just the second time in franchise history.

  “He was cruising early,” Hinch said. “And then the last couple innings, it looked like he was spending a lot of energy out there. … Those last pitches were pretty high-stress.

  “That was an incredible
play by George in center field. And for Verlander to come back and get the last out, it just felt like that was enough.”

  Just five hits and one walk. Ninety-nine pitches for 70 strikes.

  The arm, presence and experience to build a bridge to Game 7, with Verlander gradually losing track of the innings and batters and focusing only on the next necessary pitch.

  Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel slides home after an Alex Bregman two-run double in the eighth inning of Game 6. The offense finally came alive, pounding the Yankees for seven runs. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle)

  In a season defined by record-setting home runs and 100-win teams, Verlander has the Astros in sight of the World Series by owning the mound.

  “He’s pitched great, and you have to give him a lot of credit,” said New York’s CC Sabathia, who’ll start the final game of the ALCS.

  Game 2 against New York felt like the peak point for Verlander. His mentor and childhood idol Nolan Ryan watched up close. Hinch then joked after nine shutdown innings that he’d have to rip the ball out of his starter’s hands to remove him from the game.

  Friday, Verlander gave and gave again.

  For the team that wanted and needed him.

  For the 43,179 so proud to now have him in orange and blue.

  For the 2017 Astros and the Game 7 that can send them all the way to the World Series.

  “It’s pretty amazing to me how quickly these fans have bonded to me and vice versa,” Verlander said. “I feel it, I appreciate it, especially on the field. But around town, everybody is just wishing good luck. … People, a lot of times in new cities, if they’re not baseball fans, they might not recognize me. But it seems like a lot of people here, they’re involved, and they want this team to win.