ASTRONOMICAL
With a mad dash from first on Carlos Correa’s double in the ninth, Jose Altuve forges a 2-0 series lead and makes Justin Verlander a complete-game winner.
›› More in Sports: Commentary from Brian T. Smith and Jenny Dial Creech, a breakdown of Justin Verlander’s dominant start, a chat with the kid who caught Carlos Correa’s homer and much more.
Justin Verlander has pitched in three World Series games and six times in an American League Championship Series.
He’s a six-time AllStar, a former Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award winner, and the author of two no-hitters.
He could be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. If so, his 124-pitch gem against the New York Yankees on Saturday that gave the Astros a 2-0 lead in the ALCS will be encapsulated in the highlights played at his induction ceremony.
In a 2-1 victory he described as “one of the most satisfying starts” of his 13-year career,” Verlander treated a boisterous 43,000-plus Minute Maid Park crowd to the type of outing rarely seen in this day and age. Bucking the short starts that have defined this postseason, the 34-year-old righthander went the distance in Game 2 for the Astros’ first complete game in the playoffs in 31 years. Foiling the Yankees
Verlander kept a dangerous Yankees lineup off the board over the final four innings. After he threw his final pitch in a tied game, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa made sure the ace’s effort wasn’t for naught.
In walkoff fashion, Altuve scored from first base on a double by Correa, who lined a full-count 99 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman the other way into the gap in rightcenter field. Altuve might have been out at home if Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez handled a one-hopper from shortstop Didi Gregorius. Sanchez’s bobble allowed Altuve to slide past him without a tag.
The 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series is the Astros’ first in an LCS, of which they had appeared in four before this year. They flew after the game to New York, where Monday’s Game 3 is scheduled for a 7:08 p.m. first pitch at Yankee Stadium.
Astros Game 3 starter Charlie Morton has a nearimpossible act to follow after the one-two punch of Dallas Keuchel and Verlander dominated the series’ first two games. A day after Keuchel struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings, Verlander struck out 13, the ex-Detroit Tigers ace’s highest total in his 18 career postseason starts.
The double-digit strikeout performance was the seventh of Verlander’s decorated career, two more than any other pitcher in baseball history can claim. He allowed five hits and one walk and threw a remarkable 75 percent of his pitches for strikes.
He also left his teammates in awe.
“That’s a performance for the ages,” center fielder George Springer said.
“That’s what legends are made of,” Keuchel said.
“With what was on the line, that was the best I’ve seen in person,” said Morton, a 10-year veteran. Bats could not catch up
Verlander induced swings and misses on 25 pitches, including a season-high 13 on his power slider. The Yankees scored their run in the fifth inning on consecutive two-out doubles by Aaron Hicks and Todd Frazier, the latter of which got lodged in the chain-link fence that separates the visitors’ bullpen from the field. Strong relay throws from right fielder Josh Reddick and shortstop Correa cut down Brett Gardner at third base to end a threat in the third inning.
Verlander’s pitch count was at 71 through the fifth inning and only 82 through the sixth. After a 15-pitch seventh, manager A.J. Hinch gauged how Verlander felt. Hinch didn’t even ask after a 12-pitch eighth. He was going to ride his horse. Games like these were why the Astros made the late-night Aug. 31 blockbuster to acquire Verlander from the Tigers. Verlander’s mission
“When it came down to it, when I decided to say yes (to the trade), these are the moments that you envision,” Verlander said. “You don’t envision going 5-0 in the regular season once you get here. That’s all fine and great, but that’s not why I was brought here.
“I was brought here to help this team win a championship. And I’m aware of that, and I’m going to do everything I possibly can. Today was just one step.”
Verlander’s complete game was the first by an Astro in the playoffs since the second of Mike Scott’s two in the 1986 National League Championship Series against the Mets. He was the first starter on any team to pitch into the eighth inning this postseason and the first Astro to complete nine since Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in the team’s 12-inning loss to the Mets in Game 5 of the 1986 NLCS.
Verlander grew up idolizing Ryan, an executive adviser for the Astros who was in attendance Saturday.
“I do consider myself an old-school type pitcher,” Verlander said.
The epic performance picked up the Astros’ offense, shut down for most of the day by the combo of starter Luis Severino and relievers Tommy Kahnle and David Robertson. Altuve and Correa accounted for four of the team’s five hits. Correa went the other way on a solo homer in the fourth inning.
But this was Verlander’s game, and it propelled the Astros to a series lead that 25 of 28 teams in the same situation have parlayed into a World Series appearance.
“This is such a big moment for our team,” Hinch said, “but he put us on his back today with his pitching.”