ALCS

Well, The Boston Red Sox defeated the Houston Astros 4-1 last night to advance to the world series, where they will play either the Milwaukee Brewers or Los Angeles Dodgers. Here's a game by game breakdown of the series.
Game 1: Ace Justin Verlander took the mound for the Astros, countered by Chris Sale. Sale had a subpar start as the Red Sox offense couldn't muster anything big on Verlander, who gave the Astros a game 1 win.

Astros ace Justin Verlander

Game 2: The Astros, led by Gerrit Cole, held a 4-2 lead in the 5th inning in game 2, when Jackie Bradley Jr came up with the bases loaded. 

JBJ then doubled off the Green Monster, scoring all 3 runners and giving the Red Sox a 5-4 lead, a game that they would go on to win 7-5.

Game 3:  The series shifts to Houston as Nathan Eovaldi faces Dallas Keuchel of the Astros in a pivotal game 3. The Sox got to Keuchel, and in the top of the 6th, Keuchel faced Steve Pearce, who had narrowly missed a home run his last at bat. He didn't miss this time. Pearce belted a ball 456 feet to left field to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead, ending Keuchel's night. 

In the top of the 8th inning, with Boston ahead 3-2, Houston manager AJ Hinch brought in closer Roberto Osuna, who gave up a run to make it 4-2 on a hit by pitch to Mitch Moreland. Then came Jackie Bradley Jr again. He belted a 2-2 fastball by Osuna into the right field stands for his 1st grand slam of the year and the Red Sox' first grand slam of the postseason, effectively putting the game away

Game 4: Rick Porcello took the mound against Charlie Morton in an important game 4 for the Astros. In the bottom of the first inning, with the Red Sox ahead 2-0 and George Springer on base, Jose Altuve ripped a ball into the stands for the tying 2 run home run. That's where it soured. Right  field umpire Joe West called fan interference on fans in Right field where Mookie Betts had jumped to make the catch. Though Betts' glove was clearly in the stands, the fans closed his glove, making him unable to catch it. Altuve was called out, fizzling a Astros comeback. 

The controversial play

Later, in the 9th inning, and the Red Sox ahead 8-6, Boston closer Craig Kimbrel had loaded the bases for leadoff man Alex Bregman, who is about as dangerous as they come. Bregman hit a looper into left field. Andrew Benintendi charged on it. If Benintendi dove and made the catch, the Red Sox would win the game. If he trapped the ball, 2 runs would score and the game would be tied. If he missed the ball entirely, speedy Tony Kemp would have easily scored from first base and the Astros would win. Benintendi dove, and he made the catch. 

Red Sox win

Game 5: In a win or go home game for Houston, they put ace Justin Verlander on the mound, while Boston sent out David Price. In the 4th inning, Verlander, with the game tied at 0, faced JD Martinez. Martinez belted his 2nd homer of the postseason into the Crawford boxes in Left Field, giving the Red Sox the lead. Then, in the 6th inning, Rafael Devers came to bat for the Red Sox with 2 men on base. He took a Verlander pitch to the Crawford boxes in Left Field, his first homer of the postseason and making the game 4-0 Red Sox. 

Devers after his homer

That was all that David Price would need. He threw 6 dominant, shutout innings, as the Red Sox won the game 4-1, reverse sweeping the Astros and moving to the world series. What a good birthday present for Sox manager Alex Cora. 

Dominant David

Coming up, I will write about the conclusion of the NLCS series, whether it's tomorrow or Sunday. Plus, get ready for some potentially revised World Series predictions.