Astros beat Sox, move to ALCS
BOSTON — Justin Verlander came out of the bullpen for the first time in his career, beating Chris Sale in an aces-turned-relievers role reversal on Monday, and the Houston Astros advanced to their first American League finals.
Houston won over the Boston Red Sox, 5-4, eliminating the Sox in four games.
“When we saw Verlander run to the ‘pen we said, ‘Our horse is on the mound, we need to win this game,’” said Houston third baseman Alex Bregman, who homered off Sale to tie it in the eighth before Josh Reddick’s single gave the Astros the lead.
“That’s kind of the whole energy that he’s brought since we brought him over here,” Bregman said of Verlander, the former Cy Young winner who was acquired from Detroit for the playoff run. “He’s brought an energy with him that, ‘Hey, when he’s out there, we’re going to win.’”
Houston will open Major League Baseball’s championship series on Friday, either at Cleveland or at home against the New York Yankees. The Indians held a 2-1 edge over the Yankees going into Game 4 of the AL Division Series on Monday night.
With both Game 1 starters coming out of the bullpen, Verlander gave up a go-ahead homer to Andrew Benintendi — the first batter he faced — before shutting down the Red Sox for 2 2/3 innings. It was his first pro relief appearance after 424 starts in the majors and minors.
Bregman tied it before Reddick’s single off closer Craig Kimbrel made it 4-3. Carlos Beltran added to his post-season legacy with an RBI double — an insurance run that became the game-winner when Rafael Devers hit an inside-the-park homer off closer Ken Giles to lead off the bottom of the ninth.
“The two big boys, Sale and Verlander, both get into the game. Everybody did well,” Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. “Nobody really wanted to concede the game.”
The Astros last reached the league championship series in 2005 as a National League team, and were swept in the World Series by the White Sox. This year’s team, wearing “Houston Strong” patches to support the city that was flooded in hurricane Harvey, is hoping to finish the job.
“The city of Houston is still rebuilding,” Hinch said. “It’s easy for us to look in the rearview mirror and think that the hurricane is over (but) the rebuild is not going to stop for a long time . ... We want to win for them, we want to win for us, we want to win because we showed up in spring training to try to win a World Series.”
Giles pitched a perfect eighth before Devers opened the bottom of the ninth with a line drive over leaping centrefielder George Springer and off the Green Monster toward centre. The 20-yearold Red Sox rookie easily circled the bases before the throw.
Giles retired the next three batters for his first career postseason save.
Verlander also beat Sale in the playoff opener and is now 7-0 for his new team. Sale, who had never appeared in the post-season before 2017, pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, striking out six.