Kuechel to NY fans: More boos, please

NEW YORK — Evil Empire revisited? New York Yankees nemesis Dallas Keuchel fired something of a salvo on the eve of his Game 5 start against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

Referring to his introduction Monday night, Keuchel said that he enjoyed the boos from Yankees fans. “But to have some boos getting introduced, that was a nice feel,” he said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference before Game 4. “You get boos against the ‘Evil Empire’ at the home turf, it makes you feel good just because you’re doing your job correctly. Obviously, my job is to win for the Astros.”

The Red Sox tagged George Steinbrenner’s Yankees as the “Evil Empire” in 2002 when they outbid Boston for Cuban right-hander Jose Contreras. Then-Red Sox president Larry Lucchino was quoted at the time, “The Evil Empire extends its tentacles into Latin America.”

Keuchel, highly recognizable with his long beard, was asked if he has had any interaction with Yankees fans on the streets of New York. “I usually always do,” he said. “And that’s also one of the joys is when you’re doing your job correctly as a visiting player for the visiting team against the Yankees, people always are going to have choice words for you. So I fully expect that. It’s not just me, though. There’s a lot of other guys on the team that have done well for one reason or another.”

Keuchel has been almost automatic against the Yankees, especially in October.

The lefty ace pitched seven shutout innings and struck out 10 to win the opener. He threw six scoreless innings to win the 2015 AL Wild-Card game at Yankee Stadium.

Overall, he has a 1.09 ERA in 57⅔ innings against the Yanks. Oh, and he hasn’t given up a home run in that span.

Keuchel will once again face Masahiro Tanaka in a rematch of Game 1, won by Houston 2-1 at Minute Maid Park.

“We haven’t really done a whole lot off him,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said after his team’s stirring 6-4 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday.

RED SOX: The team says designated hitter Hanley Ramirez and pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez are recovering from offseason surgical procedures. Ramirez underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his left shoulder, and Rodriguez had ligament reconstruction in his right knee. Both surgeries were performed by Dr. James Andrews in Florida.

Rodriguez is expected to return to pitching in six months. The team anticipates Ramirez will be ready in time for the 2018 season.