HOUSTON – In one dugout we have the mighty Astros offence, the one that led the major leagues with 896 runs in the regular season.
In the other there is the heavy-hitting bats of the New York Yankees, who were second best with 858 runs.
So of course through two games of this American League Championship Series, a high-powered pitching duel has emerged.
On Saturday afternoon, it was the brilliance of Astros starter Justin Verlander, who carried his team to the bottom of the ninth to set the stage for a walkoff 2-1 win in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series.
The winning run came from speedy MVP candidate Jose Altuve, who scored all the way from first on a Carlos Correa double off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman in front of 43,193 roaring fans at Minute Maid Park. Altuve likely would have been out at the plate but catcher Gary Sanchez couldn’t handle the short-hop relay throw from shortstop Didi Gregorius.
Houston now has a commanding 2-0 series lead. The series resumes Monday in the Bronx.
Verlander allowed only five hits, struck out 13 and walked only one. He threw a season-high 124 pitches in a post-season in which relievers have held centre stage. He threw a gaudy 93 strikes. It was the 28th time this year he had topped 100 pitches in a start, an MLB-leading mark combining the regular season and post-season.
Both of the Yankees young sluggers, Aaron Judge and Sanchez, struck out twice. Only Gregorius escaped the strikeout log among the starters.
Yankees starter Luis Severino allowed just two hits in his four innings of work before turning it over to the bullpen. The Astros lineup that has been so proficient at manufacturing runs was getting nowhere until they got to Chapman in the ninth.
Severino left the game after he took a line-drive comebacker from Yuli Gurriel off his glove in the fourth. Tommy Kahnle and David Robertson each pitched two innings of scoreless relief, allowing just two baserunners between them.
Game 2 has been historically huge in the ALCS. Since the best-of-seven format was adopted in 1985, 25 of the 31 Game 2 winners have advanced to the World Series.
The Astros got on the board first when Correa homered in the fourth, a ball that just barely cleared the short wall in right field, with perhaps some help from a young Astros fan. A replay review supported the call on the field.
The Yankees scored their run with a somewhat bizarre play in the fifth. A two-out double by Aaron Hicks was followed by a ground-rule double from Todd Frazier, whose blast to deep centre got caught in a chain-link fence high above the visitor’s bullpen.