*Photo from CBS Sports*
Houston leads series 1-0
What a day for the Houston Astros offense, particularly Carlos Correa. Correa homered twice, drove in 4 runs, and the Astros hit their way past the Oakland Athletics for a 10-5 win in game one of the ALDS. The Astros offense has exploded onto the scene since the playoffs began, with all the household names producing as usual.
Oakland got the scoring started in the second inning, when Khris Davis hit a two run homer to right field, making it 2-0 Oakland. In the 3rd inning, Sean Murphy hit a solo homer to center field to make it a 3-0 lead for the A's. In the 4th, Alex Bregman hit a solo homer, and Correa hit a two run homer, tying the game at 3. Matt Olson quickly gave the A's the lead right back, hitting a solo homer in the bottom of the 4th, making the score 4-3. In the 5th, Marcus Semien scored on a sac fly, making it 5-3 Oakland. In the 6th, George Springer hit an RBI double, Jose Altuve hit a two run single, and Michael Brantley hit an RBI single, making it 7-3 Astros. In the 7th, Correa hit a solo homer to make it a 8-3 lead. In the 9th, Correa hit an RBI single, and Yuli Gurriel hit a sac fly, making it 10-3 in favor of the Astros.
Blake Taylor got the win for the Astros, working one scoreless inning in relief of starter Lance McCullers. McCullers lasted 4 innings, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits and one walk, striking out 5 hitters. McCullers started the 5th inning, but was not able to get an out. Manager Dusty Baker said of McCuller's performance that "Lance held us in the game, that was big. Runners on second and third with no outs in the sixth, he left them out there or else they would have been off to the races."
McCullers quickly praised the lineup for the win, saying that "The way they had at-bats today was crazy impressive, when you see our guys and they start to feel dangerous and look dangerous in the box like they did today is when you have to have a lot of confidence. It's huge to get a big Game 1 victory over a quality team."
Correa, when asked about the sudden resurgence of the hitting, said that "October baseball, the energy is just different, I know there's no fans this year, but the energy in being able to win, knowing you win or go home, that's what drives me every single day."
JB Wendelken got the loss for Oakland, getting two outs in his relief appearance. Wendelken gave up 4 runs on 3 hits, striking out one hitter. Chris Bassitt got the start for Oakland, throwing 4 innings. Bassitt allowed 3 runs on 9 hits, striking out 4 hitters. After that, the bullpen parade began. Yusmeiro Petit, Jake Diekman, Lou Trivino, Mike Minor, Jordan Weems, and TJ McFarland all pitched for Oakland in addition to Bassitt and Wendelken.
The A's have shown that losing game one of a series doesn't always matter, as shown in the wild card series against the Chicago White Sox. Olson said that "It’s good to have done it, knowing we even have a couple more games in this series is good, too. It happened. We have to look at it like we have to win three out of a four-game series, and we’ve done that plenty of times throughout this season."
The series continues Tuesday, where the Astros look to lengthen their series lead when Framber Valdez takes the mound. Sean Manaea starts for Oakland, looking to tie the series.
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