In the deciding seventh game, Houston-starter Charlie Morton threw some strong innings.
The righthander retired the side in the top of the first inning, including two strikeouts.
He then gave up a lead-off single to Gary Sánchez in the second at bat, but he was forced out and Morton closed with another strikeout.
In the third and fourth inning, Morton retired the side again, but that also included a challenge.
With one out in the third, Chase Headley hit a hard line drive to second baseman José Altuve on the rightside of the infield.
The Venezuelan then threw the ball to Cuban first baseman Yulieski Gurriel, who slipped off the base.
But the review confirmed that he had been in touch with the base long enough while having possession of the ball.
Yankee-starter C.C. Sabathia gave up a lead-off single to George Springer in the bottom of the first inning.
Three grounders followed and so, Springer stranded on second base.
In the bottom of the second inning, Yulieski Gurriel led off for Houston and drove the ball into deep rightfield.
There, Aaron Judge made a great running catch, ran into the wall with his gloved left hand hanging over it, but he hold onto the ball.
When the ball was not caught, it appeared to have stayed playable.
However, when Judge would have lost the ball, it would have been a homerun, as his glove was hanging over the wall.
With two outs, Sabathia walked Brian McCann and gave up a single to Marwin Gonzalez, but they were left behind.
Houston again got two baserunners in the third.
With one out, Alex Bregman singled and José Altuve walked.
This time, two force play-grounders ended the at bat, which left Bregman behind on third base.
In the fourth, Sabathia again gave up some hard hits, including a lead-off homerun by Evan Gattis.
Brian McCann then walked, but was forced out.
Next, Josh Reddick singled for what was his first basehit of the Series.
And that ended the evening for Sabathia, despite trailing only 1-0.
The lefthander was relieved by Tommy Kahnle, who got an inning-ending double play.
...The season of Didi Gregorius and the New York Yankees...
...ended after tonight's loss against the Houston Astros...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
New York got close to tying the score (and maybe score more) in the top of the fifth inning off of Morton.
Greg Bird led off with a double.
With one out, Bird moved to third base on a wild pitch, which also was ball-four for Aaron Hicks.
Hereafter, Todd Frazier hit the ball into the ground and it then jumped up high towards third baseman Alex Bregman.
Bird broke for home of contact and had a chance to score, but Bregman made a nice throw to catcher Brian McCann, resulting in a close play-out at the plate.
And that proved to be a crucial play in the game!
Hicks stranded on second base when a grounder ended the at bat.
Houston struck with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to lift the lead to 4-0.
With one out, José Altuve produced again, as he hit a homerun, which was his fifth in the postseason, to make it a 2-0 score.
Carlos Correa and Yulieski Gurriel followed with singles to put runners on first and third base.
Kahnle then struckout Evan Gattis, but hereafter, Brian McCann followed with a 2-run double.
That not only was Houston's ninth hit in the game, but all nine players now had recorded a basehit in the first five innings!
Adam Warren then took over the Yankee-pitching and closed with a grounder.
Lance McCullers, Jr. took over for Charlie Morton in the top of the sixth.
McCullers, who was the starter in Game 4, gave up a lead-off single to Brett Gardner, but he was forced out later.
Houston got another outstanding catch from centerfielder George Springer in the top of the seventh inning when McCullers retired the side.
Lead-off hitter Greg Bird drove the ball into deep centerfield, where Springer jumped up and caught it just before the wall.
In the top of the eighth, McCullers walked lead-off hitter Todd Frazier.
A strikeout and flyout followed and the righthander closed the at bat by striking out Aaron Judge.
This was Judge's 27th strikeout in the postseason (in 48 at bats) and with that, he set a new record.
The previous record was 26, set by Alfonso Soriano in 2003.
McCullers returned to the mound for the Astros in the top of the ninth.
He struckout Didi Gregorius (4th time) and Gary Sánchez, then Greg Bird flied out to centerfielder George Springer.
The Astros were in the World Series!
|
Astros shutout Yankees to advance to first World Series in 12 years
HOUSTON, Texas (USA) -
Houston Astros will meet Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series!
On Saturday-evening (October 21), the Astros won 4-0 against New York Yankees in the all-deciding seventh game of the American League Championship Series.
With that, Houston won the ALCS 4-3 to become the second finalist and advance to their first World Series in twelve years!
Houston Astros was established as Houston Colt.45s in 1962.
In that year, the team joined the National League together with the New York Mets.
When the team moved into the Astrodome (the first domed stadium) three years later, the name was changed to Astros to reflect Houston's important role in the American space program.
After the 2012 season, Houston transfered to the American League.
Again, the Houston-pitching was outstanding today and gave up only three basehits.
Houston collected 10 basehits with all nine players hitting at least one!
It underscored that Houston had a very well-ballanced team that also was having the best offensive season in the entire Major League.
Evan Gattis and José Altuve homered.