Instant classic!
Verlander shuts down Yankees as Astros go up 2-0
HOUSTON — A.J. Hinch knew not to go anywhere near Justin Verlander after a brief dugout conversation following the seventh inning on Saturday evening.
Baseball may be in the midst of a revolution against starting pitchers going the distance in ball games, but there was no way the Astros manager was going to mess with the brilliance that was unfolding from his starting pitcher at Minute Maid Park.
So Hinch went old school, let Verlander do his thing and watched his Astros move to within two games of advancing to the World Series.
“I would have had to rip the ball away from that man if I was going to take him out,” Hinch said after the 2-1 walkoff win over the New York Yankees to give the Astros a commanding 2-0 series lead in the best-of-seven ALCS.
They may have led the major leagues with 896 runs in the regular season, but with the Astros also have some all-world pitching, outstanding defence and speed and daring on the basepaths.
And on Saturday that had Verlander, an all-star and Cy Young winner at his best. The epic 13-strikeout performance followed up Dal- las Keuchel’s 10 the previous night helped Verlander to become the first Astros pitcher to toss a complete game in the playoffs since his idol Nolan Ryan did so in 1986.
“It’s definitely up there, if not the top,” Verlander said of his memorable outing. “With everything going on and being able to go nine, man, it’s definitely one of the most satisfying starts in my career.”
It was a vintage masterpiece of starting pitching in every way for Verlander, especially in an era where managers are afraid for their lives to allow a pitcher to go a complete game.
His 124 pitches were a season high and the 28th time his count topped 100 in 2017, the most in MLB. And of those 124 pitches, 93 were for strikes, three more than any other pitcher had thrown in a single game all season.
“That was a performance for the ages,” Astros centre fielder George Springer said. “He stepped up big. That’s why he is what he is. That was incredible.
“Anybody on this team can do something special at any time, top to bottom.”
Credit to Hinch for allowing to happen where other managers may have panicked, especially in a game that had been tied since the fifth inning.
“Big moments are meant for big-time performers,” Hinch said. “(Verlander) was exceptional in every way. He had plenty left and he was making pitches and missing bats.”
The mastery of his offspeed and breaking balls never waned and despite the high pitch count, there was never any doubt the 34-yearold was going to remain in the game. With five playoff games of 11 strikeouts or more, Verlander broke a tie with Randy Johnson for the most in MLB history.
The former Tigers ace exited to a huge roar from the sellout crowd of 43,193 at Minute Maid, but there was one big task still remaining.
And it was almost as if the baseball gods tipped their hat in return, given that the complete game would have lost much of its punch without the dramatics in the bottom half of the inning.
So cue MVP candidate, Jose Altuve, who rapped out a one-out single. When Carlos Correa followed with a double, Astros third base coach Gary Pettis waved and waved as Altuve ran and ran, just beating Gary Sanchez for the winning play at the plate.
The hustle and aggression showed yet another dimension of the Astros, who have used the little things to get the edge on a Yankees team who has been one swing away from winning each of the first two games.
“We can win games in so many ways,” Hinch said. “It speaks to the talent on this team. We can hit the ball out of the ball park. We can run.
“We like to put pressure on teams. Obviously we run the bases that way, we sometimes can be a little too aggressive. But man, when it works out, that feeling that we applied enough pressure to make a difference is key for us.”
The Yankees, of course, now find themselves in a deep hole as the best-ofseven series heads to the Bronx for Games 3, 4 and if necessary five, beginning on Monday.
The Astros are the 29th team in LCS history to take a 2-0 series lead (since the best-of-seven format began in 1985) and only three haven’t advanced. The Yankees lost the first two of their ALDS series against the Indians before a massive rally in the best-of-five set, but losing a pair of one-run games on the road to the Astros has to hurt deep in the gut.
“It’s not like we haven’t been here before,” New York manager Joe Girardi said. “My message to our team is, ‘Hey, let’s go home, win one and see what happens.’”
And hope they get a couple wins before it’s time to face Verlander again.