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For as high as some teams might feel during the postseason, it's also important to note how low they can get, too.
Many Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees fans will be experiencing the lows after yesterday's game 1 of the ALDS, where both teams were beat down by their opposition. The Red Sox fell to the Houston Astros 8-2, while the Yankees were shutout by the Cleveland Indians, 4-0.
Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale, who had an incredible debut season for the Red Sox, struggled. And that's putting it lightly.
Despite striking out six batters, Sale only survived five innings, giving up seven runs on nine hits. He finished with an abysmal 12.60 ERA in Game 1. As for the Yankees, a shutout loss is never a good way to start a series, especially against the Cleveland Indians.
The Indians held the Yankees to three hits over nine innings, never allowing New York to gain any type of momentum. But while Game 1 didn't give Boston and New York anything to cheer about, there is always Game 2 to look forward to.
ALDS Game 2 Schedule
Boston Red Sox at Houston Astros (Astros lead 1-0): FS1, 2:00 p.m., ET
New York Yankees at Cleveland Indians (Indians lead 1-0): MLB Network, 5:00 p.m., ET
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Tonight, the Astros will rely on the left arm of Dallas Keuchel to stifle Boston's offense again. Keuchel, who posted a 2.00 ERA over the final three games of the regular season, will look to erase his previous performances against the Red Sox with an impressive outing on the mound this afternoon.
In three career appearances (two starts) against Boston, Keuchel has a 9.88 ERA—not exactly something for Houston fans to get excited about. And to make matters worse for the Astros, the Red Sox are sending Drew Pomeranz to the mound, who held the Astros to one run in six innings on September 30.
One thing Pomeranz can do that Sale and the rest of Boston's bullpen in Game 1 couldn't is to not pitch to Astros second baseman Jose Altuve.
On Thursday, Altuve lit up the Red Sox with his bat, hitting three home runs in a single game. If that's not MVP material, I don't know what is.
Altuve's power gave the Astros the lift they needed in Game 1, and he'll look to replicate that success at the plate for the rest of the series—or until Boston just chooses to intentionally walk him.
The Yankees, who have some firepower on offense of their own, are hoping their MVP candidate Aaron Judge can have even half of the performance Altuve had on Thursday when his Yankees team takes on the Indians. After being shutout in Game 1, the Yankees are looking for answers from somewhere on offense.
Judge struck out four times swinging in Game 1, leaving three players on base. That's not how big time players should play in October.
For the Yankees to crawl back into this series, they'll need Judge to start putting the ball into play or into the stands. Now is not the time for him to continue striking out.
Looking to keep Judge at bay will be Corey Kluber, who led the majors in ERA during the regular season (2.25 ERA).
After scoring eight runs in Game 1, the Indians will look to keep their bats hot when they take on CC Sabathia.
The Indians drafted and made Sabathia a star in the MLB. Now, it's his time to shine once again on the mound in Cleveland—this time, however, wearing Yankees pinstripes.