HOUSTON — Astros ace right-hander Justin Verlander relied on his veteran savvy to execute a mid-start adjustment with his breaking ball on Wednesday, an alteration that wound up leading Houston to a win in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
Verlander rebounded masterfully following a scuffling start to his outing while rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena hit the last of the Astros’ three homers as Houston claimed a 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees.
Yuli Gurriel, Chas McCormick and Pena slugged solo home runs for the Astros, who will play host to Game 2 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday.
Verlander (1-0) needed 66 pitches to complete the opening three innings, including 22 in the first inning, when he stranded two baserunners.
Two batters into the second, Harrison Bader clubbed his fourth home run of the postseason, a 411-foot blast to left-center field that provided the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Verlander allowed three of the ensuing six batters to reach base before tweaking his slider and finding his groove.
His run started with a strikeout of Josh Donaldson with Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton in scoring position in the third. Verlander then recorded a called third strike on Matt Carpenter to strand both runners and followed by striking out the side in the fourth, all swinging.
When Verlander fanned Gleyber Torres to open the fifth, it marked his sixth consecutive strikeout. He struck out Donaldson and Carpenter again to close the sixth and cap his 11-strikeout performance.
“I was able to, particularly the slider, make some adjustments … and kind of get that pitch where I wanted it to be, thank goodness, because the Yankees’ lineup is hard enough to face when you are on,” Verlander said. “When your stuff’s not working, it’s incredibly difficult. So I was really able to lean on it later in the game and obviously have some success with it.”
Verlander allowed one run on three hits and one walk while increasing his career postseason strikeout total to 219 — the most in major league history. He surpassed Clayton Kershaw (213 postseason strikeouts) and recorded his eighth postseason start with 10-plus strikeouts.
The Astros immediately erased the Yankees’ one-run lead in the bottom of the second. Martin Maldonado followed a two-out single from McCormick with an RBI double to right off Jameson Taillon.
Houston threatened again in the fifth when Pena chased Taillon with a one-out double, but Yankees reliever Clarke Schmidt snuffed a bases-loaded threat by inducing Kyle Tucker to roll into an inning-ending double play.
An inning later, the Astros rallied against Schmidt (0-2).
Gurriel opened the sixth with a line-drive homer to left that snapped the 1-1 deadlock. Two batters later, McCormick drilled a Schmidt sinker the opposite way to right. When Pena stroked a leadoff homer to left field off Frankie Montas in the seventh, the Astros had a three-run lead.
Pena finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and a homer. He became the first rookie with three extra-base hits in a postseason game since his predecessor, Carlos Correa, did so for the Astros in Game 4 of the 2015 AL Division Series.
Pena has helped offset the unexpected struggles of second baseman Jose Altuve, who is 0-for-19 this postseason, by becoming just the 12th player in history with five extra-base hits in his first six career postseason games.
“I would say that’s what makes us so good,” Pena said. “We pick each other up on any given night.”
Said Yankees manager Aaron Boone: “He’s stepped in and been an impact player for them. He’s stepped in some big shoes and played an important role for them.”
Houston closer Ryan Pressly recorded four outs for the save, turning back the Yankees after Rizzo homered off Astros reliever Rafael Montero with two outs and two strikes in the eighth.
The Yankees failed to get the desired impact from Carpenter, who struck out in all four of his at-bats while making his first start since Aug. 8. Carpenter was sidelined due to a broken foot before returning to action with two pinch-hit appearances in the ALDS against the Cleveland Guardians.
“Yeah, tough matchup, right?” Boone said/ “You got obviously Verlander, who is actually tougher on lefties, as great as he is, and even Pressly there. So it’s a tough draw. Hopefully valuable for him to just get some regular at-bats within the course of a game that serves him and us well kind of moving forward.”
–MoiseKapenda Bower, Field Level Media
