Keuchel stellar in opener, shuts down Yanks again
HOUSTON — Dallas Keuchel dominated the Yankees again, striking out 10 in seven scoreless innings to lead the Astros to a 2-1 victory Friday night in the AL Championship Series opener.
Keuchel entered with a 1.24 ERA against the Yankees in regular-season starts plus six shutout innings in the 2015 AL wild-card game.
“It’s just a good combination of command and pitchability,” Keuchel said. “When I’m behind in the count, I feel just as good as if I’m 0-2. I think that’s one of the biggest keys for me recently.”
Said Yankees manager Joe Girardi: “He’s got that late movement on both sides of the plate.”
Keuchel allowed four hits — all singles — walked one and joined Nolan Ryan and Mike Scott as the only Astros pitchers to reach double digits in strikeouts in a postseason game. Keuchel lowered his postseason ERA to 0.70 in four starts.
Carlos Correa and Yuli Gurriel delivered RBI singles in the fourth off loser Masahiro Tanaka, and left fielder Marwin Gonzalez threw out Greg Bird at the plate trying to score on Aaron Judge’s two-out single in the fifth.
Bird homered off Ken Giles with two outs in the ninth, but then the closer struck out pinch hitter Jacoby Ellsbury. Giles escaped a two-out jam in the eighth by striking out Didi Gregorius.
Jose Altuve had three more hits. At 11-for-19, he has the most hits in a team’s first five postseason games since the Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki in 2001.
Tanaka kept the Astros hitless until Altuve’s infield single in the fourth. Altuve stole second before scoring on Correa’s single. Gurriel followed with a two-out single, his 10th hit of the postseason.
The Yankees dropped their sixth straight ALCS game.
In Game 2, the Yankees will send young Luis Severino against veteran Justin Verlander.