That sinking feeling
Hicks’ three-run, first-inning pole shot off Verlander is the difference
Astros starter Justin Verlander lets out a yell after he gave up a three-run home run to Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks in the first inning of Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Friday at Yankee Stadium in New York. The Astros can close out the series at home tonight.
NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole or bullpen game?
That was the big question the moment that A.J. Hinch took the post-defeat podium after Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.
And, honestly, that was the big Q after a four-run New York first inning that immediately wrecked the Astros during their final game inside Yankee Stadium in 2019.
“It will be a bullpen game,” said Hinch, while not saying much else.
José Urquidy. Brad Peacock. Josh James. Will Harris. Joe Smith. Ryan Pressly. Roberto Osuna. Hinch has multiple options to record 27 more outs on Saturday back inside Minute Maid Park and guide the Astros back to the World Series.
After 4-1 Yankees on a chilly Friday night in the Bronx, the Astros’ manager made one of the most critical decisions of his five-year career.
Cole is currently the best pitcher on the planet. Cole would also be forced to start Game 6 on short rest, and short rest backfired on the Astros in
Game 4 of the AL Division Series, when Verlander was hit hard and Tampa Bay pushed Hinch’s club to a series-deciding five.
The team that won a franchise-record 107 games will now turn away from its locked-in starters. For the first time since this postseason began, someone not named Zack Greinke, Cole or Verlander will take the ball first for the Astros.
“Everyone’s ready. Everyone’s ready,” Alex Bregman said. “We’re going back with our heads held high after taking two out of three. We’ll go get the job done.”
Cole wasn’t offered the Game 6 start. Instead, Hinch will employ a bullpenning tactic that has increasingly become commonplace in contemporary Major League Baseball. An opener? A long arm and a few relievers to make it the full nine? Wait, watch and see.
Cole will be saved for Game 7, if necessary. The Astros will piece it together in 6 as they try to eliminate the Yankees.
It’s the smart move. It comes with a Cy Young-caliber trap door (Cole). It will also instantly be second-guessed if a potential season-ending Game 7 becomes a reality and the World Series favorite in the AL is pushed to the brink for the second consecutive series.
“I will be the same pitcher I’ve been all season. I will try to do my best,” said Urquidy, who had yet to learn if he was starting Game 6 or coming out of the pen.
You know this already: If the Astros don’t start doing something with runners in scoring position, it might not matter who is on the mound for the orange and blue in Game 6.
They didn’t score a run Friday after scoring one in the first. They entered Game 5 a woeful 4-for-33 with RISP, then went 0-for-6 while leaving nine on base.
Hinch was more direct about struggling rookie Yordan Álvarez, who only has one hit in 19 ALCS at-bats and has struck out 10 times.
“He’ll DH and bat seventh,” said Hinch, when asked about Álvarez’s Game 6 status.
Lefthander James Paxton was shaky in the first but finished with nine strikeouts and allowed just one run on 112 pitches.
Verlander was sharp after the first, blanking New York for six consecutive innings and also erasing nine on 105 pitches. But his first was a game-changing disaster.
The Astros’ No. 1 starter missed, fell behind and left ‘em hanging. When a very un-Verlander like inning was over, the Yankees had four runs, two home runs — including a threerun shot by Aaron Hicks off the right-field foul pole — and instant Game 5 life.
The stadium went dark, then kept blinking after the second longball, shaking with sound. Verlander needed 29 pitches just to walk off the mound and New York had snapped an 0-for-15 slide with RISP.
The Astros’ 1-0 lead — early momentum added to back-toback wins inside Yankee Stadium — had not just evaporated. It had been coldly discarded, replaced by the return of the Yankees and a reminder that a highly resilient New York squad won 103 games this season for a reason. “They’re a tough group. They really are,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who will also piece it together on the mound in Game 6, then turn to starter Luis Severino in Game 7 if New York is still alive.
“Certainly that first inning started a little rough. But it didn’t phase them,” Boone said. “They continued to grind, continued to make plays. … It’s what they’ve been good at all year, is coming in the next day with an energy and a focus and an edge and a hunger. And it showed up again (Friday). I’m not surprised, but it was really good to see after (Game 4).”
Where the Astros will be after Game 6 in downtown Houston is the next big question.
This ALCS is still a series. The Astros are still one win away from returning to the World Series.
But if Cole is forced to save the Astros in Game 7, you’ll know that the bullpen game went the wrong way.