*Photo from the Houston Chronicle*
Houston leads series 1-0
Carlos Correa pointed to his wrist, right where someone would put their watch. It was his time, he let everyone know. Jose Altuve homered, Correa hit the go ahead homer, and the Houston Astros defeated the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Friday night.
It was a night that started off with the Astros down. Framber Valdez did not last very long in his start, Altuve committed a crucial error in the 3rd inning, and the Astros were down 3-1 entering the 6th inning. But, thanks to Altuve and Correa, they took back game one and hold a 1-0 series lead in the best of 7 ALCS.
Correa said of the back and forth nature of game one that "I just think this game was unbelievable. I enjoyed it as a player, but also, as a fan of the game, I thought it was a well-played game, all around. I think they're a really hard team to beat, and just by one run we won this game, and I feel like we played really good."
Altuve scored on a sac fly from Yordan Alvarez in the first inning, putting the Astros up 1-0 early against Boston. In the 3rd inning, Boston took control. First, it was a Kike Hernandez solo home run that went to the train tracks in deep left field, tying the game 1-1. Next, Xander Bogaerts scored on a double play ball that went right under Altuve's glove to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. an RBI double from Hunter Renfroe made it 3-1.
In the 6th inning, Altuve atoned for his mistake by blasting a game tying two run home run to center field, and the game was now tied 3-3. In the 7th, it was Correa's time, with a go ahead solo home run to left field giving the Astros a 4-3 lead. In the 8th, a sac fly from Altuve made it 5-3. In the 9th, Hernandez got Boston within a run on another solo home run, but that was all they could muster.
Altuve said of his game tying two run shot that "It feels good, obviously. Especially in a playoff game and especially in the situation, we were down by two runs. And just to tie the game and to give the team the chance to win the game is big. So I felt, even though I didn't do any bat flip or anything, I'm really happy about the homers I hit because I'm helping the team to win."
Ryne Stanek got the win for the Astros, getting the final out of the 7th inning to improve to 1-0 this series. Valdez lasted just 2 2/3 innings in his start, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks, striking out just two hitters in a no decision. Ryan Pressly picked up the save despite allowing the homer to Hernandez in the 9th. Yimi Garcia, Cristian Javier, Phil Maton, Brooks Raley, and Kendall Graveman also pitched.
For Boston, Hansel Robles got the loss, allowing the home run to Correa in his one inning of work. Chris Sale lasted the same amount of time in the game as Valdez did, allowing one run on 5 hits and one walk over 2 2/3 innings. Tanner Houck allowed two runs in his relief appearance, and Hirokazu Sawamura allowed one. Adam Ottavino, Josh Taylor, Ryan Brasier, and Martin Perez also pitched.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of the opening game loss that "They have a good team. They have a good offense, so, you know, we prepare. We did a good job today. I know they scored five, but they took advantage of two mistakes today in the ballpark. But overall, we made it a competition. They didn't do much outside of the homers. I think we made pitches in certain situations. Just one of those, it just happened that they did damage, and they ended up winning the game."
Game two of the series is on Saturday afternoon in Houston, where the Astros look to take a 2-0 series lead behind rookie starter Luis Garcia. Nathan Eovaldi takes the ball for the Red Sox as they look to even the series 1-1.
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