BASEBALL IN HIGH HEELS: ASTROS VS. YANKEES 1-5
MLB: ALCS 2017 Game 1 Yankees vs. Astros
By Katie Haskins
Game 1 was a close affair between these two teams. Walks were low and strikeouts were high. Masahiro Tanaka pitched for the Yankees and Dallas Keuchel pitched for the Astros. The 1st inning started with a strikeout for Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge getting walked, Gary Sanchez also striking out and Didi Gregorious grounding out. The Astros managed a walk for George Springer, Josh Reddick grounding out, Jose Altuve getting a fly out and Carlos Correa also grounding out.
It was scoreless though the bottom of the fourth until Altuve got a base hit that went through Tanaka’s legs. He then managed to steal 2nd before Correa manages to get another hit, allowing Altuve to run for home. Yuli Gurriel took the plate next and got another base hit allowing Correa, who batted after Altuve, to come home as well.
The game remained as it was for several innings. A hit from Reddick in the bottom of the 6th was a line drive into Tanaka’s upper thigh and would’ve been quick painful if he hadn’t moved slightly to the right. Thankfully Tanaka could continue the inning, although I suspect he’ll have a nice bruise tomorrow. Altuve made another base hit but the Yankees kept the Astros from scoring further.
The top of the 9th brought the Yankees their only run of the game courtesy of Greg Bird. The game ended with 1-2 Astros. Game 2 is tomorrow afternoon.
MLB: ALCS Game 2 – Yankees vs. Astros
By Katie Haskins
It was another close game that remained scoreless through the early innings. Justin Verlander pitched a good game for the Astros, surviving through all nine innings. It took eight pitches to strike out Gardner in the first inning. Bottom of the 1st with two outs, Jose Altuve got a base hit, Carlos Correa walked, but Marwin Gonzelez’s groundout ended the scoreless inning. Top of the 2nd had Starlin Castro with a broken bat. Bottom of the 2nd ended with a double out.
Top of the 3rd was when things started to get interesting. Clint Frazier hit a flyout, followed by Chase Headley, who’s hit was caught just shy of the wall by Reddick in right field. Brett Gardner hits a long ball and is waved through to 3rd where he was declared safe. The Astros challenged and won ending the inning.
Score remained at 0-0 until the bottom of the 4th where Correa hit a home run just out of Aaron Judge’s reach and caught by a young boy with a glove. The Yankees battled back in the top of the 5th with a hit by Aaron Hicks who double to 2nd base. Frazier followed it with a hit of his own and the ball getting stuck between the fence and the padding of the back wall. Hicks ran home, but Frazier was called back to 2nd base. Headley hit a flyout to end the inning.
The score remained tied at 1-1 until the bottom of the 9th. Altuve got another base hit. Correa hit a long ball to the outfield and Altuve booked it home. The throw from Judge to Didi Gregorius to Gary Sanchez made it to home plate before Altuve, but Sanchez couldn’t hold on, allowing Altuve to score. There may be some discussion as to whether Correa impeded Gregorious’ movement at 2nd when throwing to home.
Astros win 2-1 and lead the series 2-0. Next game is at Yankee Stadium.
MLB: ALCS Game 3 – Astros at Yankees
By Katie Haskins
The Yankees are back in the series with Aaron Judge getting out of his post season slump. CC Sabathia was the starting pitcher for the Yankees and kept the Astros scoreless through his six innings on the mound. Charlie Morton started the pitching off for the Astros.
The game was exciting from the first inning, which although scoreless for both teams included an uncommon out of Didi Gregorious not making the slide back to 1st to end the inning.
Bottom of the 2nd started with two outs for the Yankees. Starlin Castro got a base hit as Alex Bregman missed the ball. Aaron Hicks also got a base hit, the ball landing in the shallow outfield. Next up was Todd Frazier who with an unorthodox swing, hit a homer to right field, starting the Yankees off with a 3-0 lead. Chase Headley hit a flyout to end the inning.
Top of the 3rd brought some action to the Astros who also started off with two outs. George Springer got walked. Bregman got a base hit while Springer stole 3rd. Jose Altuve was walked making it bases loaded. Carlos Correa had a flyout ending the Astros’ time at bat. Bottom of the 3rd had Brett Gardner flyout, Judge got walked, and Gregorius got a base hit. Altuve dived for the ball, and threw to 1st as he popped up off the ground, but was unable to get Gregorius out. Gary Sanchez ground out to end the 3rd.
Top of the 4th started out with Yuli Gurriel hitting a flyout deep to right field. Judge caught the ball just before slamming into the wall. He also had a back somersault when he finally landed on the ground. No hits were made by the Astros, sending the game to the bottom of the 4th. Greg Bird hit deep to left field and managed to steal 2nd. Castro ground out while Hicks hit a flyout. Frazier was walked and Headley got a base hit after Altuve fumbled allowing Bird to score. Gardner was up next and got walked. The Astros changed pitchers to Will Harris before Judge took the plate. The 2nd pitch to Judge goes wild and Frazier steals home. Court was back in session as Judge hits a home run bringing the score to 8-0. The Astros got Gregorius out, finaly stopping the damage.
The top of the 5th brought another great catch from Judge as he dived for a fly ball off of Cameron Maybin. The only error of the game came in the top of the 6th as a base hit from Correa bounced off Gregorius’ glove. Thankfully for the Yankees, it went towards 1st base.
No one else scored until the top of the 9th. Marwin Gonzalez and Josh Reddick were walked by Dellin Betances. The Yankees brought in Tommy Kahnle to pitch. Maybin got a base hit making the bases loaded with Springer up. Springer strikes out but Bregman gets walked, bringing a run in for the Astros, breaking the scoreless game for them. Altuve is up next but grounds out with a double play ending the game.
Yankees win 8-1 and bring the series to 2-1 Astros.
MLB: ALCS Game 4 – Astros at Yankees
By Katie Haskins
Another nail biting game with some rarely seen plays. Sonny Gray started out pitching for the Yankees while Lance McCullers Jr. pitched for the Astros.
Like the previous games in this series, it remained scoreless for several innings. The bottom of the 4th had Aaron Judge running to 2nd base, but the fly out made him run back to 1st base. He slid and was initially called out but the it was overturned upon replay. Unfortunately he did not touch the bag at 2nd base before coming back. At the start of the next batter, the Astros threw to 2nd to get him out, as Judge slid in hoping to beat the ball. He just missed giving the Astros the 3rd out of the inning.
The top of the 6th had the Astros at bat. George Springer was walked, Josh Reddick was walked due to catcher interference, Jose Altuve was walked loading the bases. Carlos Correa struck out. Yuli Gurriel hit to deep left field allowing three runs to come in but got himself out at 3rd. Alex Bregman struck out but not before the Astros had a 3-0 lead over the Yankees. The Yankees did not score in the bottom of the 6th.
Top of the 7th brought a double hit from Gonzalez. McCann hit to Castro who fumbled the ball for the 2nd time tonight, allowing Marwin Gonzalez to score another run. It was now 4-0 Astros. Springer ground out for a double play. Bottom of the 7th brought Judge to the plate. He hammers a home run to center giving the Yankees their first run of the night. Didi Gregorius hit deep to make 3rd base. Gary Sanchez hit a fly out, but it was deep enough that Gregorius stole home. The next two batters were ground out and fly out respectively. The game was now 4-2 Astros.
The bottom of the 8th was long. It started off with Todd Frazier getting a base hit. Chase Headley slipped as he ran to 2nd, but recovered and managed to slide in just in time. With runners at 2nd and 3rd, Gardner ground out at 1st but his sacrifice allowed Frazier to score. Judge was up again, hitting the ball to the back wall with a fan almost catching it. He got to 2nd base and Headley scored. Gregorius hits a ground ball putting Judge on 3rd and himself on 1st. Sanchez hits a fly out but it allows both Judge and Gregorius to score. Greg Bird is intentionally walked and Starlin Castro is also walked. Aaron Hicks gets a ground out as well as Frazier, who started this inning. The Yankees went through their entire batting lineup in a single inning and scored 4 runs. It’s now 6-4 Yankees.
Aroldis Chapman is up as pitcher for the Yankees and quickly finishes off the game. Yankees win 2 in a row and tie up the series.
MLB: ALCS Game 5 – Astros at Yankees
By Katie Haskins
While the starting pitchers were the same as game 1, the outcome couldn’t have been more different. The momentum has switched over to the Yankees who have won the last 3 games.
The 2nd inning had Starlin Castro hitting a double followed by Greg Bird doing the same which allowed Castro to score. In the 3rd, Headley got a base hit followed by Brett Gardner but the Astros got Chase Headley out at 2nd. Aaron Judge hit a double and Gardner scored from 1st. The next two batters strike out. The score is now 2-0 Yankees.
In the 5th, Headley gets a base hit, but an off-balance throw to 1st allows him to extend it to a double. Gardener gets ground out but Judge gets walked. Gary Sanchez is up next and drives the ball deep, allowing Headley to score and Judge to advance to 3rd. Didi Gregorius gets a base hit and Judge scores. The Astros change pitchers which allow them to finish the inning without any more runs scored. The score is now 4-0 Yankees.
No runs scored in the 6th but Sanchez homered in the 7th bringing the score to 5-0 Yankees which is where it stayed. The Astros were shut out and the series is 3-2 Yankees. Can they keep the momentum going when they return to Houston?
