Houston loss in a blowout is considered a better outcome than winning in the first round.
In the postseason, the question of who’s to blame has been raised. Despite dropping the all-important Game 1, the Houston Astros can afford to relax. For the seventh consecutive year, the Astros didn’t panic.
The Astros were swept by the Texas Rangers, 0-2, in Game 1 of the best-of-seven American League Championship Series (ALCS) of the 2023 Major League Baseball postseason at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, on Saturday.
Starter Justin Verlander pitched 6⅔ innings, allowing two runs on six hits (one home run) with two walks and five strikeouts, but the offense couldn’t get going and was saddled with the loss. The Houston offense was silenced by Texas starter Jordan Montgomery. Center fielder Jordan Alvarez went 0-for-4, including striking out in three straight at-bats.
The eighth inning was the most frustrating. After Jose Altuve led off with a walk, Alex Bregman hit a huge shot to the left-center field fence. The ball was so deep it was expected to be a long ball, but Texas rookie left fielder Evan Carter made a picturesque super-catch in front of the fence.
The ball was 103.2 mph (166.1 km/h) and had a 65% chance of being hit, but it was a fly ball. Thinking it was a long ball, Altuve stepped on second and tried to steal third, but the throw was caught and he hurried back to first. Texas replayed the play, but Altuve got to first base first.
However, Texas requested a video review of Altuve’s touch on the second base bag. The video review confirmed that Altuve did not touch second base and went back to first. Nu was called out on the play, turning a bases-loaded situation into a bases-loaded situation. It was a mistake that poured cold water on the game, and the Astros retired the next four batters they faced in a scoreless loss.
A costly error for the veteran Altuve, who was playing in his 97th career postseason game. According to MLB.com, after the game, Altuve said, “I thought the pitch was over Carter’s head, I didn’t expect to catch it like that. It was a great play. I was trying to get back to first base and that’s what happened,” he said, giving credit to his opponent.
Houston wasn’t fazed. “If you’re going to lose, it’s better to lose in game one than to lose in the middle of the series,” said manager Dusty Baker, who was confident in his team’s ability to bounce back, adding, “Nathan Eovaldi, who starts game two tomorrow (Sunday), is a tough pitcher to beat, but we have a strong pitcher in Framber Valdez.”
“We lost Game 1 in the World Series last year, too,” said Verlander, who took the loss. The Astros lost Game 1 to the Philadelphia Phillies in last year’s World Series, but went on to win the series 4-2.
Since 2017, the Astros have advanced to the League Championship Series in seven straight years. It’s a first in franchise history and shows signs of being a sustainable powerhouse. The last two years have seen a rash of early exits for district winners in the Division Series, 먹튀검증 but Houston is an exception. They’re used to big games, having won two World Series from 2017-2022. Why they’re not panicking after dropping Game 1 on a bizarre error.
Meanwhile, in the history of the best-of-seven major league postseason series, the team that takes Game 1 has a 64.4% (121/188) chance of winning. In the current 2-3-2 series, the odds of a team winning Game 1 on the road are lower, at 55.7% (39/70).