MLB playoffs | ALDS results | Thursday
Astros 6, White Sox 1 Houston leads series 1-0
HOUSTON — Lance McCullers Jr. was terrific. Yordan Alvarez delivered, and Jose Altuve scored on a nifty slide.
The Houston Astros sure love October.
McCullers pitched scoreless ball into the seventh inning, and the Astros beat Lance Lynn and the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of their AL Division Series.
Michael Brantley added two hits and two RBIs as the AL West champions showed off their playoff experience in an impressive opening performance. McCullers allowed four hits in 6.2 innings in his eighth career postseason start.
While Houston is in the playoffs for the fifth straight season, winning the World Series in 2017 and making it to the AL Championship Series last year, Chicago is making a second straight playoff appearance for the first time in franchise history. It lost to Oakland in the first round in 2020.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Friday in Houston. The teams also met in the 2005 World Series, with the White Sox sweeping the Astros for the title.
McCullers, playing the role of staff ace after the Astros lost Gerrit Cole in free agency and Justin Verlander to injury in recent years, carried over his success from the regular season. He set career highs with 13 wins, a 3.16 ERA and 185 strikeouts this year.
Rays 5, Red Sox 0 Tampa Bay leads series 1-0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Randy Arozarena became the first player to hit a home run and steal home in a postseason game, and rookie Shane McClanahan pitched the Tampa Bay Rays to a victory over the Boston Red Sox in their AL Division Series opener.
The breakout star of October last year, Arozarena made a breathtaking dash to the plate in the seventh inning for the first straight steal of home in the postseason since Jackie Robinson did it for the Brooklyn Dodgers against Yogi Berra and the New York Yankees in the 1955 World Series, according to the FS1 broadcast.
Nelson Cruz also homered and McClanahan tossed five stellar innings for the Rays.
Young Wander Franco also sparkled in his playoff debut, delivering an early RBI double that speedy 2020 postseason star Arozarena scored on from first base to get the defending AL champions off to a quick start.
Arozarena, a 26-year-old Cuban who’s still a rookie despite setting a postseason record with 10 homers and 29 hits in 20 games a year ago, capped an exhilarating performance by stealing home on Boston reliever Josh Taylor to make it 5-0 in the seventh inning.
It was the first steal of home in a playoff game since Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs did it against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the 2016 NLCS.
If not Arozarena’s flashy, crowdpleasing play and the hitting of the 20-year-old Franco, who was promoted to the majors in June, then McClanahan ‘s pitching may well have been the story of the night.
The 24-year-old lefty, who made his major league debut during Tampa Bay’s run to last year’s World Series, scattered five hits and struck out three in his first career playoff start.