ALDS GAME 1
Astros ride home run parade to 7-2 win, lead series with Indians 1-0
Oct 5, 2018, 4:52 pm
Alex Bregman (right) got the Astros started with a solo home run and also later drove in a run on a single. Bob Levey/Getty Images
The Astros overpowered the Indians on Friday afternoon, winning 7-2 to kick off the ALDS. The Astros picked right up where they left off in the postseason of 2017, utilizing multiple home runs and solid pitching to get a Game 1 win at home to go up 1-0 in the ALDS.
Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, George Springer, and Martin Maldonado hit solo homers to go with two RBIs from Josh Reddick, backing up a strong start from Justin Verlander and efficient work from the bullpen. Verlander went 5.1 innings to go with 2 earned runs and seven strikeouts in the win.
Justin Verlander started the postseason off by getting Francisco Lindor to pop out to shallow center field for the first out. Verlander then worked around a two-out walk, getting a groundout to end the inning. Corey Kluber also issued a two-out walk in the bottom of the inning, to Alex Bregman, but was able to strand him to end the inning.
In the top of the second, Verlander kept the game scoreless with a quick 1-2-3 inning, getting a strikeout, groundout, and fly out on 10 pitches. Marwin Gonzalez led the bottom of the inning off by taking first base after an inside pitch grazed his jersey, then moved to second after Kluber did the same against Tyler White with one out. They'd both get stranded, though, after a double play grounded into by Josh Reddick.
Yan Gomes gave Verlander a battle to start the third, a ten-pitch battle that ended in a strikeout, followed by two more as Verlander would strike out the side. Kluber kept the game gridlocked at 0-0 after the bottom of the inning, getting three quick outs on just 8 pitches.
After the Indians were retired in order again by Verlander in the top of the inning, it was Bregman who notched the first hit and run of the game, a solo home run to the Crawford Boxes in left, making it a 1-0 Astros lead to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Yuli Gurriel was next and worked a walk, advanced to second on a single by White, then scored on a two-out RBI single by Josh Reddick to extend the lead to 2-0 before Kluber could end the inning.
Verlander kept his rhythm going strong, working well with the lead in the top of the fifth with two strikeouts and a fly out to keep Cleveland hitless. Like Bregman the inning before, George Springer took Kluber deep to lead off the bottom of the fifth to make it 3-0, and with the blood in the water Jose Altuve followed with one of his own to make it back-to-back homers and put Houston ahead 4-0. Despite getting a couple of outs from the next two batters, Marwin Gonzalez's two-out single would be the end of the line for Kluber, finishing with four runs in his four and two-thirds innings of work. Adam Cimber would be first out of the bullpen and would get the final out after Gonzalez got caught stealing second.
Verlander finally allowed the Indians to get their first hit of the game to lead off the sixth, then after a one-out single found himself in his first scoring threat of the game. After walking the next batter to load the bases, and at 102 pitches, A.J. Hinch would come out of the dugout and make the call to bring in Ryan Pressly. Pressly would put his first pitch in the dirt, a wild pitch that would score the runner from third and give Cleveland their first run, making it 4-1. Pressly would get a ground ball for the second out, seceding another run to put the Indians within two at 4-2 before getting a strikeout to end the extended half-inning. Cimber returned to the mound in the bottom half of the inning, getting two more outs before another call to the Indians bullpen to bring in Cody Allen who was able to get the third.
In the top of the seventh, Pressly stayed in the game and threw a strong inning to retire the Indians in order. With Allen still on the mound in the bottom of the inning, Martin Maldonado gave Houston more padding to their lead with the Astros' fourth solo home run of the day to make it 5-2. A single by Springer in the next at-bat ended Allen's appearance and brought in Trevor Bauer from the bullpen. Springer moved to second on a groundout by Altuve, then scored on an RBI-single by Bregman, though Bregman would get caught between bases for the second out. Gurriel made it back-to-back hits with a two-out double and was left stranded, but the Astros still had their lead back to four runs in the 6-2 game.
Lance McCullers Jr. was next out of the pen for Houston and was able to get three quick outs in the top of the eighth to put them three outs away from the win. Tyler White hit a one-out double into the left-field corner off of Dan Otero in the bottom of the inning, then was pinch-run for by Myles Straw whose speed came in handy to score on a single up the middle by Reddick to make the lead 7-2 before a double play sent the game to the final inning.
Roberto Osuna took over in the top of the ninth and worked around a leadoff single by getting the next three batters out to end the game and start the playoffs off with a win.
Game 2: The ALDS remains in Houston for Game 2 tomorrow afternoon at 3:37 PM Central, and can be seen on TBS. We'll get another high-profile pitching matchup with Gerrit Cole going for the Astros opposite of Carlos Carrasco for the Indians in a battle of strikeout artists. The Astros will try to utilize the home-field advantage to get out to a 2-0 lead in the series so that they only have to win one of the next three and keep the Indians from making it a best-of-3 series.
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The Astros have already been swept in four series this season. They were swept in four series all of last season. As Mexico City says bienvenidos to the Astros this weekend, there are certainly more than a few folks fretting that the Astros are already close to saying adios to playoff hopes. The Astros are not at the point of no return, though one can see it out there on the horizon. It wouldn’t take another month of their garbage level 7-19 performance for the season to be essentially down the drain.
If the Astros were in the American League East, they’d already be ten games out of second place. But they’re not! If in the AL Central they’d be eleven and a half games back of Cleveland. But they’re not! Dozens of teams have rebounded to win divisions from larger deficits much later in the season than the Astros face presently. The Seattle Mariners lead the thus far weak AL West at 13-12. The Astros being six and a half games in arrears of the M’s and six back of the Texas Rangers in late April is far from optimal but nowhere near devastating.
Multiple media outlets have noted how few teams historically have started a season in as stumblebum a fashion as the 2024 Astros and wound up making the playoffs. What every outlet I have seen noting that failed to include: this is just the third season since Major League Baseball added a third Wild Card to each league’s postseason field. So, while 7-19 out of the gate is indisputably awful, it is not the death knell to the extent it has been over generations of MLB.
The issue isn’t where the Astros sit in the standings, it’s that they have played atrocious baseball and aren’t providing reason for optimism that a stark turnaround is imminent. The starting rotation is the best hope. Justin Verlander has made two starts. Framber Valdez rejoins the rotation Sunday. Cristian Javier should be a week or so away. Obviously, Ronel Blanco isn’t going to continue pitching as well as he has through his first four starts. But if he is a good number four starter, that’s fine if the top three coming into the season pitch to reasonably hoped for form.
Hunter Brown simply is not a good big league pitcher. Maybe he someday fulfills his potential, but the data at this point are clear. What can Brown do for you? Not much. Spencer Arrighetti needs better command to be a good big league starter. J.P. France was a revelation over his first 17 starts last season, but since has looked like the guy who posted underwhelming numbers when in the minor leagues. If the Astros wind up with 50-plus starts from Brown/Arrighetti/France their goose will probably be cooked.
The only MLB teams with worse staff earned run averages than the Astros’ horrific 5.07 are the Chicago White Sox (Wait! They have Martin Maldonado!) and Colorado Rockies. At 3-22 the White Sox are on an early pace to post the worst record in the history of Major League Baseball. The Rockies never have a chance to post good pitching stats because of the mile high offensive freak show environment in Denver.
Way to go, Joe
Props to Joe Espada for his conviction in making what he believed to be the right call in pulling Verlander after four and a third innings Thursday at Wrigley Field. Verlander allowed no runs but had reached 95 pitches in just the second outing of the injury-delayed start to his season. Not easy for a rookie manager skippering what has been a Titanic journey thus far to pull a surefire Hall of Famer who was two outs away from qualifying for a win. Many were no doubt poised to destroy Espada had Rafael Montero given up the lead in the fifth. Verlander was angry at being pulled from any chance at his 259th career win. Understood, but the manager’s job is to make the decisions he thinks are in the ballclub’s overall best interest. That Montero and Bryan Abreu combined to blow the lead in the sixth is immaterial.
Then there's the offense…
Six runs total the last four games. Scored more than four runs in just one of the last nine games. Timely hitting largely non-existent.
At last check Alex Bregman still hawks that “Breggy Bomb” salsa. At the plate, he’s been mostly stuck in “Breggy Bum” mode, including zero bombs (home runs). 23 games played without a homer is Bregman’s longest drought since 2017 when he had separate 35 and 27 game stretches between dingers. Bregman has a history of slow first months of the season, but never anything as inept as he’s posted thus far. A litany of lazy fly balls, infield pops, and routine grounders add up to a .216 batting average and feeble .566 OPS. Reference point: Martin Maldonado’s worst OPS season with the Astros was .573. If Bregman was a young guy handed a starting job coming out of spring training, if a viable alternative were available, there’s a chance he’d be a Sugar Land Space Cowboy right now. Bregman’s track record makes it a decent bet that he winds up with decent numbers, but nothing special. Certainly nothing remotely worth the 10 years 300 million dollars or whatever Bregman and agent Scott Boras intend(ed) to seek on the free agent market this coming offseason. Two hits Thursday did get Bregman to the 1000 hit plateau for his career.
Despite arriving south of the border with his batting average at .346, even Jose Altuve has his warts. With runners in scoring position, Altuve has one hit this season. One. In 16 at bats. Small sample size, but it counts. That’s .063. Yordan Alvarez has been no great shakes either, five for 24 (.208) with RISP.
One wonders what would happen if the Astros got a hold of and “lost” Jose Abreu’s passport/visa this weekend in Mexico City and Abreu couldn’t get back into the U.S. after the two-game set with the Rockies.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.