American League Championship Series Preview

By Frank W. Gillespie | Posted 1 year ago
American League Championship Series Preview

In the American League, the Houston Astros are the team to beat. The Astros have played in the World Series three of the previous five postseasons, most recently losing to the Braves last season.

 

Dusty Baker’s players feel that they have unfinished business. Houston (+150) is favored to win the World Series, although the ALCS does not project to be a walk in the park. The New York Yankees and record-setting slugger Aaron Judge are also on a mission, and the Astros-Yankees rivalry is a hot one and Game 1 is Wednesday at Minute Maid Park.

 

Astros’ SP Justin Verlander is timeless, and seems to be a shoo-in to win his third Cy Young Award. At 39 years old, Verlander posted a 1.75 ERA and 185 strikeouts over 175 innings pitched in the regular season. Granted, Verlander got roughed up a bit in his most recent playoff game against the Seattle Mariners, but Houston survived. 

 

The Astros advanced to the ALCS after surviving an early scare from the Mariners in Game 1. Down 7-3 entering the bottom of the eighth, Houston rallied to stun Seattle with an 8-7 comeback victory. 

 

 

The dramatic walk-off dinger by Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez killed most of the Mariners’ momentum, and Seattle got swept. The M’s battled hard, even taking the Astros to 18 innings in Game 3, but Houston withstood the storm. With that show of power and championship pedigree, the Astros showed why they are the class of the AL.

 

The New York Yankees finished the season with 99 wins, inadvertently commemorating the historic season that No. 99 had at the plate. Judge smashed 62 home runs, breaking the AL single-season home run record of 61 that was previously held by Roger Maris. Many baseball fans, including yours truly, believe that Judge also set the legitimate MLB single-season home run record with his power display this year. There are no asterisks or failed urine tests clouding Judge’s legacy, and hopefully, there never will be. 

 

Judge and the Yankees earned a first-round bye with their 99-win campaign, waiting for the result of the Tampa Bay/ Cleveland Wild Card series.

 

The Guardians swept the Rays in two quick games before taking the Yankees to the precipice of elimination in Game 5 of the ALDS. Postponed by rain and played in the Bronx the following afternoon, New York took control of Cleveland early and never looked back. Guardians’ SP Aaron Civale couldn’t even escape the first inning, getting smacked around for three runs in a third of an inning. Giancarlo Stanton launched a three-run bomb in the first that put the Yankees ahead for good, and Judge added his second HR of the series in the second inning to put New York up 4-0.  

 

 

Yankees’ SP Nestor Cortes pitched efficiently under pressure. Cortes notched a quality start, going five innings while allowing the Guardians’ lone run in the third. The Yanks tacked on another run in the fifth on Anthony Rizzo’s RBI single, and that would be the final ALDS run scored. New York relievers Jonathan Loaisiga, Clay Holmes, and Wandy Peralta combined to throw four scoreless innings to close Cleveland out. 

 

Final score: Yankees 5, Guardians 1. 

 

Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” boomed through the speakers, serenading the Bronx faithful, signifying sweet victory. No rest for the wicked though, as the Yankees had to get on a plane and fly down to Houston directly after their Game 5 victory. The Astros were waiting, and Game 1 of the ALCS starts tonight at 7:37 EST on TBS. 

 

Verlander is slated to duel with Jameson Taillon in the series opener. Taillon finished the regular season with a 14-5 record and a 3.91 ERA for the Yankees. Neither Verlander nor Taillon have looked especially sharp in the 2022 postseason, but the ALCS offers both pitchers a sort of clean slate. Anything is possible, and everything is on the line.   

 

There is no love lost between Houston 2B Jose Altuve and the Bronx Bombers, and the teams have history. 

 

The last two times that the Yankees reached the ALCS, the Astros eliminated them from contention (2019, 2017). Pinstripe Nation hopes that the third time's a charm when it comes to Houston and the ALCS.

 

New York last won the World Series in 2009 when it defeated Philadelphia 4-2, winning championship No. 27. The Yankees have won the most championships of any professional U.S. sports team. Perhaps there is a Phillies-Yankees World Series rematch in the making, but there is plenty of quality baseball ahead of us before we will have that answer. 

 

 

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