Astros feed off energy injection by Verlander
Advance to first ALCS by edging Red Sox 5-4
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 visiting Houston Astros advanced to their first AL Championship Series by rallying past the Red Sox 5- 4 and eliminating Boston 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 AL MVP and 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 the ALCS on Friday, either in Cleveland against the Indians 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 Sox for 2 2/3 innings. He picked up the win in what was his first pro relief appearance after 424 starts in the majors and minors.
“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 after 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 rear- view 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.”
CUBS OVERCOME SCHERZER’S GREAT START
Anthony Rizzo hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the eighth and the Cubs overcame Max Scherzer’s brilliant performance to beat the Nationals 2-1 in Chicago for a 2-1 lead in their NL Division Series.
Scherzer was dominant in his return from a right hamstring injury, carrying a no- hitter into the seventh. But just like in Game 1, when Chicago was held hitless into the sixth, the World Series champion Cubs persevered. Albert Almora Jr. had a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh for Chicago, and Jose Quintana tossed 5 2/ 3 innings of one-run ball in his post-season debut.