The Houston Astros jumped out to a 1-0 series lead over the New York Yankees with a 2-1 win in the series opener in Houston Friday night.
It was a pitchers’ duel early on, with New York’s Masahiro Tanaka and Houston’s Dallas Keuchel both stymying batters. Keuchel amassed six strikeouts in his first four innings of work, and Tanaka had a no-hitter through three.
In the fourth inning, Houston’s offense showed signs of life and the Astros got on the board. Carlos Correa drove home Jose Altuve, and Yuli Gurriel drove home Correa. Those would prove to be the only runs Houston would need.
The Yankees came close to scoring in the following frame. Aaron Judge nailed a line drive to left field, and it looked like Greg Bird would score from second. However, Houston leftfielder Marwin Gonzalez showed off his canon and gunned Bird out at the plate.
Ken Giles, who is now 35/39 on save opportunities this year, closed out the game. Bird drilled a solo shot to right field to put the Yankees on the board with two outs in the ninth inning, but Giles struck out Jacoby Ellsbury to end the game.
Keuchel got the win, while Tanaka, who was marvelous in defeat and only gave up four hits in six innings of work, took the loss.
Game 2 will take place Saturday at 4:30 p.m. EST at Houston’s Minute Maid Park. Luis Severino and Justin Verlander are the expected starting pitchers. The game will air on Fox; it is the lone game in this series that will not appear on FS1.
