As predicted in the ALDS thread, the Rays gave the Astros an absolute dogfight of a series. The team with the lowest ERA in the majors in 2019 lived up to that reputation, holding the Astros to an uncharacteristically low .700 OPS in the series. The Rays’ amazing starting trio of Glasnow, Morton and Snell and their lockdown bullpen made life incredibly tough on the Astros’ offense.
Meanwhile, the Yankees hammered their way to a .929 OPS against the Twins. However, instead of facing the brutal trio that the Astros dealt with against the Rays, the Yankees went up against the Twins’ starting trio of José Berríos, Randy Dobnak, and Jake Odorizzi.
As a result, the Yankees got some extra rest with a pretty easy three-game sweep and were able to set their starting pitching rotation up exactly the way they wanted for this series. Meanwhile, the Astros were forced to pitch their two aces in four of the five games, meaning they’ll need to turn to Zack Greinke to start this series.
However, despite the fact that the Astros and Yankees had a very different path through the division series, they each ended up where they’ve been expected to end up for a couple months now - facing off against one another in the ALCS.
In the regular season, the series was very hotly contested...the Astros won 4 games to 3, and held the overall run differential in the series by a mere two runs. Houston won all three games at Minute Maid, while the Yankees took 3 of 4 in the Bronx.
However, a few key things REALLY jump out when looking back at the season series:
1. The Astros’ starters in the three games won by the Yankees were Framber Valdez, Brad Peacock, and Wade Miley. Barring some sort of epic disaster, none of those three will start a game in this series.
2. Neither George Springer nor Carlos Correa played an inning in the three Astros losses to the Yankees this season.
3. Tyler White started in all three of the Astros’ losses to the Yankees (going 1 for 10).
Simply due to item #3 alone, I’m expecting a 4-game sweep in this series. Just kidding. As much as I don’t miss this...
...I fully expect this series against the Bronx Bombers to be an epic battle. With that said, I fully expect the Mamelhorn 2.0 streak to run to 7 straight series wins, and I fully expect the Astros to reach their second World Series in three years.
Series Pitching Matchups:
Game 1 - Zack Greinke vs. Masahiro Tanaka
Game 2 - Justin Verlander vs. James Paxton
Game 3 - Gerrit Cole vs. Luis Severino
Game 4 - TBD
Games 5-7 (if needed) - TBD
GO STROS! And, one more thing:
OU SUCKS!
Meanwhile, the Yankees hammered their way to a .929 OPS against the Twins. However, instead of facing the brutal trio that the Astros dealt with against the Rays, the Yankees went up against the Twins’ starting trio of José Berríos, Randy Dobnak, and Jake Odorizzi.
As a result, the Yankees got some extra rest with a pretty easy three-game sweep and were able to set their starting pitching rotation up exactly the way they wanted for this series. Meanwhile, the Astros were forced to pitch their two aces in four of the five games, meaning they’ll need to turn to Zack Greinke to start this series.
However, despite the fact that the Astros and Yankees had a very different path through the division series, they each ended up where they’ve been expected to end up for a couple months now - facing off against one another in the ALCS.
In the regular season, the series was very hotly contested...the Astros won 4 games to 3, and held the overall run differential in the series by a mere two runs. Houston won all three games at Minute Maid, while the Yankees took 3 of 4 in the Bronx.
However, a few key things REALLY jump out when looking back at the season series:
1. The Astros’ starters in the three games won by the Yankees were Framber Valdez, Brad Peacock, and Wade Miley. Barring some sort of epic disaster, none of those three will start a game in this series.
2. Neither George Springer nor Carlos Correa played an inning in the three Astros losses to the Yankees this season.
3. Tyler White started in all three of the Astros’ losses to the Yankees (going 1 for 10).
Simply due to item #3 alone, I’m expecting a 4-game sweep in this series. Just kidding. As much as I don’t miss this...
...I fully expect this series against the Bronx Bombers to be an epic battle. With that said, I fully expect the Mamelhorn 2.0 streak to run to 7 straight series wins, and I fully expect the Astros to reach their second World Series in three years.
Series Pitching Matchups:
Game 1 - Zack Greinke vs. Masahiro Tanaka
Game 2 - Justin Verlander vs. James Paxton
Game 3 - Gerrit Cole vs. Luis Severino
Game 4 - TBD
Games 5-7 (if needed) - TBD
GO STROS! And, one more thing:
OU SUCKS!
