(Houston) Justin Verlander struck out 11 in six innings, Yuli Gurriel, Chas McCormick and Jeremy Peña all homered and the Houston Astros prevailed 4-2 over the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Wednesday.
Posted yesterday at 11:59 p.m.
The Astros are playing in their sixth consecutive All-American final, looking to reach the World Series for the fourth time in that span. As for the Yankees, they are in their first American final since their elimination at the hands of the Astros in 2019.
The game was tied 1-1 in the sixth inning when Gurriel hit a solo slap in left field. That strike against reliever Clarke Schmidt gave Houston the lead. Two batters later, McCormick sent the ball over the fence into right field to make it 3-1.
Verlander set a major league record with eighth game in the series with more than 10 strikeouts. He also passed Clayton Kershaw (213) to become the undisputed leader in playoff strikeouts with 219.
Peña, whose long ball in 18e inning completed the sweep against the Seattle Mariners in the second round, homered Frankie Montas to start the seventh and take the lead to 4-1.
Anthony Rizzo homered off Rafael Montero in the eighth to close the gap to two runs.
Ryan Pressly got the rescue.
The Astros were given a few days off after eliminating the Mariners on Saturday. The Yankees won the ultimate game of their second-round series against the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday.
The two teams will resume the necklace tomorrow evening.