*Photo from CBS Sports*
Houston wins series 3-2
The Astros had a 4 run first inning, Gerrit Cole threw 8 innings, and the Houston Astros beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 to secure a spot in the ALCS. They will play the Yankees, and all season the two teams seemed destined to meet in this spot. Carlos Correa said that ''It's the matchup that we wanted, it's the matchup that everybody wants to watch. It's must-see TV right there. So everybody is going to be tuning in. It's going to be fun.''
The Astros pounced early, when Jose Altuve and Yuli Gurriel had RBI singles, and Alex Bregman ripped a two run double to give Houston a 4-0 lead in the first inning. In the second, Eric Sogard got the Rays on the board with a solo homer to right field. In the 8th, with the score 4-1, Michael Brantley and Altuve hit back to back solo homers to give the Astros a 6-1 lead, which they hung on to.
Cole went 8 dominating innings, giving up just one run on two hits and two walks. He struck out 10 hitters and earned his second postseason win this October. Roberto Osuna worked the 9th to shut down Tampa Bay. Justin Verlander talked about the upcoming series, saying that ''This is two incredible powerhouse teams, we'll find ourselves in the middle of the ring here in a couple of days and we'll be going at it.'' Cole himself said that ''I'm just going to treat it like it's the next game, man, I mean, we know that they're obviously very talented, and it's going to be a dogfight.'' Houston beat the Yankees in the 2017 ALCS in 7 games on their way to winning the world series.
Tyler Glasnow took the loss for the Rays, lasting just 2 2/3 innings and giving up 4 runs on 5 hits. He fell to 0-2 in his first postseason. Manager Kevin Cash said that ''You get a taste of this, you want to keep going, today we kind of got outpowered. Outpowered on the mound and obviously at the plate.'' Willy Adames showered praise on Cole, saying that ''I don't know if anybody can get better than that, he was unbelievable last start, and today was still the same.''
Game one of the ALCS is in Houston on Saturday, where Zack Greinke will start.
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