‘Yankee clipper’
Righthander fires another gem as Astros stay alive with Game 6 win
Justin Verlander dominates the New York Yankees over seven scoreless innings to keep the season alive.
A few hours before Game 6, Astros manager A.J. Hinch jokingly referred to Justin Verlander as having “a bionic arm.”
The Astros are probably wondering if he can pitch Game 7, too.
While he didn’t go the distance like in Game 2, Verlander dominated the New York Yankees over seven scoreless innings to save the Astros’ season for at least another day. Their had-been-struggling lineup mustered enough offense to fuel a 7-1 victory and set the stage for a Game 7 that will decide which team advances to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
The Astros improved to only 3-10 all-time in postseason elimination games. The deciding game of this American League Championship Series will be only the second Game 7 in Astros history after their 2004 NLCS loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Charlie Morton will start for the Astros opposite the Yankees’ CC Sabathia. First pitch at Minute Maid Park is scheduled for 7:08 p.m.
A save from Springer
Verlander extended his scoreless streak in postseason elimination games to 24 innings. Center fielder George Springer saved him at least a run with a leaping catch in front of the centerfield wall with two runners on base that robbed Todd Frazier of extra bases.
It wasn’t until after Hinch went to a bullpen that has proven unreliable when the Yankees scored. Aaron Judge unloaded on a first-pitch fastball from Brad Peacock for a 425foot blast onto the train tracks. Jose Altuve got the run back with a solo home run in the eighth off David Robertson, and Ken Giles finished the game for the Astros in the ninth.
Altuve’s homer was only
the Astros’ second of the series. Their bats awoke late with four hits in the eighth against Robertson, one of the best relievers in a loaded Yankees bullpen. Alex Bregman extended the late barrage with a tworun double to left-center field. He scored the fourth run of the frame on a sacrifice fly by Evan Gattis.
“It’s about getting the confidence back of stepping up to the plate and feeling good with your swing, feeling good with your approach, with your timing. It just takes one atbat to get that back,” Astros shortstop Carlos Correa said. “A lot of guys today hit the ball hard. Hopefully we can carry that into tomorrow.”
The Astros had the man they wanted on the mound. Elimination games like Friday’s were the reason they traded three prospects in the late-night Aug. 31 blockbuster to acquire Verlander from the Detroit Tigers. The opportunity to pitch for a contender like
this one is why Verlander agreed to the deal.
His tenure with the Astros has been just about flawless. He won all five of his regular-season starts with the Astros. He also won his start in the ALDS against the Boston Red Sox. He delivered a signature performance in Game 2 of this series with a 124-pitch complete game.
The disappearing act of the Astros’ bats only minimized the thin margin for error their ace had coming into the game. An ovation greeted the 34-year-old righthander as early as 6:33 p.m. Friday, when he emerged from the middle steps of the dugout and made a beeline for the right field corner to stretch. He returned to the dugout a half-hour later to highfives
Sharp from the start
Verlander was sharp from the outset despite allowing a leadoff single in each of the first two innings and a one-out base hit in
the third. As he did in his Game 2 start, he filled up the strike zone. The Yankees hitters took a more aggressive approach in Game 6. Through three innings, he held them scoreless on 35 pitches, 29 strikes.
The fourth and fifth were clean, and Verlander worked around a two-out single in the sixth. The seventh proved his most laborious inning, though. It opened by him walking Greg Bird and hitting Starlin Castro on the sweat band covering the batter’s right elbow. A 10-pitch battle with Aaron Hicks before a strikeout suggested Verlander was near the end of the line.
Frazier, who struck out on an as ugly a swing you’ll see in professional baseball in his previous at-bat, stepped in the batter’s box for the Yankees’ best scoring opportunity to that point.
After fouling off a curveball, he unloaded on a 95 mph fastball and sent it deep to center field. It wouldn’t have left the yard, but Springer’s catch erased the chance for runs.
Verlander finished with eight strikeouts and just one walk.
“He’s been everything that we could have hoped for and more,” Hinch said. “This guy prepares. He rises to the moment. He’s incredibly focused, locked in during games, and emptied his tank tonight.
“And I’m so proud of him because I know how much it means to him. I know how much he puts into these outings. He chose to come here for games like this and beyond. We hope we all get to see him pitch again.”
Before they broke out late, frustrations mounted for the Astros offensively in the fourth. Peeved by a borderline strike two call, Altuve barked at homeplate umpire Jim Reynolds after swinging through a 99 mph Luis Severino fastball for strike three. The next batter, Carlos Correa, smacked a 99 mph fastball to right-center field for the Astros’ first hit. He was stranded at first.
McCann comes through
The fifth featured a novelty for the game to that point: runners in scoring position. Bregman worked a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a slow-rolling groundout by Marwin Gonzalez.
After Severino pitched around Gattis on a fourpitch walk, Brian McCann made the pitcher pay. The left-handed hitting catcher lashed a high fastball into right field that bounced over the fence for a groundrule double, snapped his 0-for-20 and plated Bregman for the game’s first run.
Altuve, who had an 0-for-12 of his own at that point, ripped a first-pitch slider past the third baseman Frazier and into left field for a two-run single that put the Astros ahead, 3-0.
At first base, the star second baseman pounded his chest as he looked toward the first-base dugout. The Astros finally had some offense to show for.
Later, they would have much more.
jake.kaplan@chron.com twitter.com/jakemkaplan