The Houston Astros have not been in the ALCS, since the 2005 season when they advanced to the World Series as members of the National League. As for the Yankees they last appeared in the American League Championship Series in 2012, when they were swept in four games by the Detroit Tigers.
On Friday night, both teams battled it out with the hopes of gaining a game advantage.
The Yankees Masahiro Tanaka, came off his dominate Game three performance in the ALDS against the Cleveland Indians, when he tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits, a walk and struck out seven batters to earn the win in the Yankees 1-0 victory.
As for his counterpart, Dallas Keuchel, he also came off a postseason victory after tossing 5.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits, with three walks and seven strikeouts in the victory over the Boston Red Sox.
In the first inning, Keuchel worked around a one-out walk to Aaron Judge to retire the side after striking out Gary Sanchez and getting Didi Gregorius to ground out into a double play.
Tanaka started his ALCS by also working around with men on base, and did not allow a run to score.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when the Astros finally broke through on RBI singles from Carlos Correa and Yuli Gurriel putting Houston up 2-0.
As for the Yankees offense, they could not get anything going against the Astros starter, as he just quieted their bats by tossing seven shutout innings, allowing four hits (all singles), with one walk and 10 strikeouts.
The Yankees finally broke through in the top of the ninth, after a tape measure shot from Greg Bird off of closer Ken Giles with two outs, pulling New York within a run at 2-1. But the flamethrower settled down and finished off the Yankees by striking out pinch-hitter Jacoby Ellsbury and sending the Astros to a 1-0 lead in the ALCS.
Both teams will be back at it again on Saturday afternoon with the first pitch scheduled for 4:00 pm.
The Astros look to take a 2-0 lead, while the Yankees hope to make it a split in Houston, before the series shifts back to New York.
David Conde
David is the Founder and Co-Owner of Legends On Deck and Co-Host of the Legends On Deck Podcast. A lifelong sports fan with a special passion for the New York Mets and New York Knicks, David has spent more than a decade covering the sports he loves. From 2010 to 2014, he served as a Senior Editor for MetsMerized Online and Mets Minors, and in June 2014 fulfilled a lifelong dream by covering the New York Mets at Citi Field as a credentialed writer. As Legends On Deck has expanded beyond baseball, David has enjoyed diving into more sports, learning along the way and sharing those stories with readers and listeners. Married for over 27 years and the proud father of two adult sons, he continues to connect with sports fans through Legends On Deck, the podcast and social media.
