To advance to the Division Series and face the Royals in a best-of-five matchup that begins Thursday night in Kanas City, the Yankees will have to figure out how to beat the AL’s only 20-game victor in a winner-take-all playoff Tuesday night after going scoreless against him in 16 innings this season. The series features perhaps the best pitching matchups fans will see throughout the postseason. It is one and done. In 2015 he has gone 20-8 with a 2.48 ERA and 216 Ks. This year the squad didn’t wilt under the pressure of being the favorites in the AL Central.
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The plus for the Yankees, though, is that they’ll have home-field advantage – for what it’s worth.
What does Masahiro Tanaka have left in the tank? His one start against the Astros was a disaster.
Gardner, McCann, Chris Young and Girardi had words with plate umpire Eric Cooper as Keuchel cruised through New York’s lineup for the third time this season.
Don’t forget the Astros have a few pretty good hitters, too. The Astros played terrific baseball at home this year, finishing with a 53-28 record. Miller has blown only two saves this season and the Astros are coming in after previously winning two of three games in New York, including a game when they put up 15 runs. Then in the bottom of the fifth, New York allowed two more runs. The team with the best record over that time span? When healthy Mark Teixeira is a gold-glove caliber first baseman, but he’s not healthy.
The Astros have a real gem in Jose Altuve. But don’t think for a second that the Astros are just happy to be here. Houston was 86-76, but rallied with six wins in the final eight games.
More than anyone else, Keuchel’s emergence as a legitimate ace has vindicated General Manager Jeff Luhnow’s controversial methods that have drawn a lot of criticism from baseball traditionalists. The problem with these two is the fact that if they aren’t hitting home runs, they aren’t doing much at all for their team. Betances has looked exhausted down the stretch, but he’s still as talented as any reliever in the game.
“One thing I told Ells is that you’re going to be in this game”, the manager recalled.
“All semblance of an order of our bullpen is kind of off right now in a one-game playoff”, Girardi said.
Does anyone want to win this game?
They will host the Astros. Houston went with INF Matt Duffy and switch-hitting INF Jonathan Villar.
The Yankees are a bit different. For what it’s worth, the Yankees won four of six games against the Royals this year. Gregorius tripled to deep center, and Ackley scored.
One would think this would be the Yankees by a mile. All the Yankees really need is to reach the sixth inning with a lead. However, that would have cost them Luis Severino and/or Greg Bird, both of whom went on to play key roles as the Yankees secured the wild card.
Houston hasn’t been in the playoffs in 10 years and rookie skipper A.J. Hinch has been able to guide his team to this point.
Keuchel won’t be as dominant against the Yankees as he’s been in the past, but he’s going to be plenty effective.
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And official Major League Baseball team websites: Yankees and Astros.
