The Houston Astros are sitting pretty after taking the first two games of the American League Championship Series. They are hoping that success continues on the road tonight.
Charlie Morton gets the start for the Astros while CC Sabathia gets the call for New York. First pitch is set for shortly after 7 o’clock tonight.
The Astros hope Jose Altuve continues his hot hitting. He is 5-for-8 in this series after going 8-for-15 in the ALDS while Carlos Correa is 3-for-7 with three RBIs, including a homer and the game-winning double that scored Altuve from first base Saturday.
Houston's dynamic middle infield has put the Astros up 2-0 in a
best-of-seven series for the first time in team history. Since the
format expanded to best of seven, teams with a 2-0 lead in the LCS
have won 25 of 28 series.
"They're going to be loud," said Astros catcher Brian McCann, who
played the previous three seasons in New York. "We took care of
business at home, and now we need to go on the road and continue to
play good baseball. The Yankees are a team that has been here
before, so we need to continue to play good baseball and show up
and expect to win."
Houston would also like to get some more offense from others beyond
Altuve and Correa. Houston's other hitters are a combined 3-for-43
against New York, which has posted a 2.20 ERA.
During the regular season, the Astros led the majors in runs and
scored 24 runs on 18 extra-base hits in the ALDS
"We have just been able to stay present in the moment and win the
games the way that they needed to be won," Houston manager A.J.
Hinch said. "We can't ask their pitching to sit it out there over
the plate and give up the home run ball that we're pretty good at.
We just continue to put up good at-bats and see if we can
manufacture some runs."
Houston's pitching has posted a 1.00 ERA in this series and Charlie Morton has a tough act to follow when he starts Monday. He will be pitching two days after Verlander struck out 13 in a 124-pitch five-hitter on Saturday.
Morton started Game 4 of ALDS last Monday in Boston and did not get
a decision after allowing two runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings
during an 83-pitch outing. During the regular-season, Morton was
14-7 with a 3.62 ERA with a 51.8 percent ground ball rate.
Morton is 1-1 with a 5.68 ERA in two starts against the Yankees. He
struck out 10 in a 10-7 win at New York on May 14 when he allowed
four runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings.
You can listen to the game on our sister station, Sports Talk 790.