The Houston Astros have defeated the New York Yankees in game six of the 2019 ALCS to advance to the 2019 World Series. The Astros will face the Washington Nationals, who swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2019 NLCS. After a 4-2 victory in game six, a true bullpen game for both teams, the Astros prevailed and will head back to the World Series.
In game one it was the Yankees who opened the series up with a 7-0 slaughter of the Astros to get out to a 1-0 lead on the Astros. With Zack Greinke not looking his best, he would give up three runs on seven hits over six innings followed by Ryan Pressly giving up two runs on two hits over two-thirds of an inning. For the Yankees, it was Masahiro Tanaka who would throw six innings of one-hit baseball on full rest after the Yankees swept the Twins in the ALDS. Offensively it was youngster Gleyber Torres who would lead the way going 3-5 with 5 RBI for the Yankees.
Extra innings would be needed to decide the final outcome of game two, with the Astros coming out on top of that contest 3-2 to even up the series 1-1. Yankees starter James Paxton would only last 2.1 innings pitched allowing four hits and one run. Ultimately, the loss would fall on Yankees pitcher JA Happ who pitched two-thirds of an inning, yielding one run on one hit. It was a walk-off home run by Astros shortstop Carlos Correa that would end the game. On the bump for the Astros was Justin Verlander who threw 6.2 innings allowing five hits with two runs. After that, the bullpen would take over to close out the game and seal the win for the Astros.
Gam three can be summed up in two words: Gerrit Cole. Cole threw seven strong innings for the Astros, only allowing four hits, no runs, and striking out seven Yankees hitters along the way. It was reliever Joe Smith who would surrender the only run that the Yankees would score, only recording one out on the outing. Luis Severino got touched up early by the Astros hitters allowing two runs in the first inning but bouncing back for 4.1 innings pitched on the day before giving it over to the bullpen. For the Astros offense, it was Jose Altuve and Michael Brantley leading the way both getting two hits in the contest.
Going into game four, the Astros were up 2-1 on the Yankees, but game four would get postponed, meaning the Astros could start Greinke again after getting him at the trade deadline in a slew of trades. Greinke would only last 4.1 innings pitched allowing one run on four hits, but still striking out five for the Astros. The bullpen would give up two more runs, but that was nothing for the Astros who’s offense scored eight runs to get a 3-1 lead on the Yankees. Tanaka got tabbed for three earned runs over five innings, but the sloppy defense did not help the Yankees at all.
In a win-or-go-home matchup for the Yankees, they would prosper and extend the series to a game six. A 4-1 win over the Astros kept the Yankees alive by the whims of James Paxton pitching six strong innings. Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, DJ Lemhaieu, and Gleyber Torres all got in on the action offensively, all coming around to score on the day. For Astros, it was Verlander who struggled a little bit allowing four runs over seven innings on five hits. Brad Peacock would come in to relieve Verlander and then open game six for the Astros.
Game six was a bullpen game between the Yankees and Astros, with Peacock starting for the Astros and Chad Green starting for the Yankees. Green would get tabbed for three runs early to get the Astros out to an early lead. The Astros would end up powering through and preserving the lead until the top of the ninth inning when the Yankees tied it up and made it a 4-4 ballgame. Yankees infielder, Lemahieu, saved the Yankees season in the top of the ninth inning to tie things up. However, it was the Astros infielder, Altuve, who hit a walk-off home run to earn the Astros the pennant win and punch their ticket to the 2019 World Series.
It was Altuve who was named the ALCS MVP after a lights out performance to help elevate the Astros to their ALCS victory and advancement to the 2019 World Series. Altuve’s walk-off home run was just the fifth ever walk-off home run in postseason history. His walk-off home run would ultimately send the Astros back to the World Series, and without the blast, the ballgame could have gone much differently.
The Astros will move on to face the Nationals who are coming fresh off a sweep and are well-rested. The 2019 World Series will begin on Tuesday, October 22nd in Houston with the Astros having home-field advantage. The Astros will look to earn their second World Series victory in the past three seasons.
