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<!-- Game 5 October 18 at NYY https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA201910180.shtml

Game 6 October 19 at NYY https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU201910190.shtml

The Yankees homered twice in the first inning off Justin Verlander as New York beat Houston in Game 5 of the ALCS.

The New York Yankees aren’t sure who their starting pitcher will be Saturday, or who will be available out of the bullpen, or even know who they’ll be facing.

They don’t care.

All they know is that Friday evening they were packing their bags and taking a flight to Houston.

There will be a Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.

The Yankees, shrugging off a pitiful performance, with their fans at Yankee Stadium showing up subdued after viciously booing them a night earlier, woke up just in time to make this a series.

The Yankees, thanks to an historic first-inning uprising, knocked off the Astros, 4-1, keeping their season alive, and forcing a Game 6 at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

“When we took the field,’’ said Yankees reliever Zack Britton, who pitched 1 ⅔ hitless innings, “it didn’t feel like our season was over.’’

Aaron Hicks hits a three-run homer in the first inning. Aaron Hicks hits a three-run homer in the first inning. (Photo: Brad Penner, USA TODAY Sports) Pardon everyone else for feeling differently, particularly with their stinker in Game 5, committing four errors, striking out 13 times, and extending their hitless streak to 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Instead, it was the Astros falling victims of the most stunning first inning in Yankee Stadium playoff history.

It began when D.J. LeMahieu hit the second pitch of the game into the right-field seats off Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander -- the first leadoff homer at Yankee Stadium since Derek Jeter in 2004 -- and ended when Aaron Hicks hit a three-run homer off the right-field foul pole.

Just like that, the Yankees set a Yankee Stadium record. Never in their storied franchise history, spanning 405 games, had they ever hit two homers in the first inning of a postseason game.

Verlander, who had permitted just four runs and two homers in his last four postseason starts against the Yankees, wound up giving up that many to the first five batters he faced.

Why, it was the first time Verlander gave up four runs in any single inning since Aug. 11, 2014, against Pittsburgh Pirates.

“The fastball command wasn’t very good,’’ Verlander said, “and the slider was just hanging. I wasn’t really able to execute anything.’’

Verlander settled back down, commanding his fastball again, retiring 20 of the next 21 batters.

“At that point,’’ Verlander said, “you’re hoping and praying your team can scratch and claw and get back in the game.’’

The Yankees refused to let them.

The Astros, who scored a run in the first on an infield single, a passed ball and a wild pitch, were shut down the rest of the way. James Paxton, throwing 112 pitches, the most by a Yankees’ pitcher this season, went seven innings before turning the game over to the bullpen.

It was the first time in baseball history that two teams scored in the first inning, and never scored again the rest of the game.

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“They’re a tough group,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone says, “they really are. Certainly, that first inning started a little rough, but it didn't faze them. They continued to grind, continued to make plays.

“But it's what they've been good at all year, coming in the next day with an energy and a focus and an edge and a hunger. And it showed up again today. I'm not surprised.’’

He only surprised himself when he went to the mound with two outs in the seventh inning and Robinson Chirinos at the plate. He was ready to pull Paxton with a torrent of boos from the crowd every step he took. He checked on him, Paxton told him he wanted one more batter, and Boone came back alone, hearing thunderous cheers from the sellout crowd of 48,483.

Moments later, it was Boone gasping for breath when Chirinos’ deep fly ball to left field fell just a foot shy of going over the fence.

“He gave me the chance to compete and keep on going,’’ Paxton said. “I wanted it. And I did everything I could.’’

It was that kind of evening for the Yankees, with veteran J.A. Happ saying, “You talk about a game of inches. Unbelievable.’’

The Astros, of course, still are sitting pretty. They lead 3 games to 2 with Gerrit Cole in their back pocket, a pitcher who is 19-0 with a 1.59 ERA in his last 25 starts.

“We’re up 3-2, we’re in the driver’s seat,’’ Verlander said. “We’re going back to Houston. But this is a great ballclub. This team is stacked. So these boys are not going to lay down for us.

“We have to go take care of business at home.’’

Yet, when you see crazing things happening like Friday night at Yankee Stadium, the Astros know anything is possible.

If they’re going to win their second World Series in three years, they’re eventually going to have to hit. They are hitting just .210 this postseason, scoring just 35 runs in 10 games.

They’ve been pitiful against the Yankees, hitting just .178. Yordan Alvarez, the heavy favorite to win the National League Rookie of the Year, has disappeared. He is one-for-19 this series with nine strikeouts, including three times Friday.

It’s enough to give a team hope, no matter the odds stacked against them.

“I don’t know how we’re going to piece it together,’’ LeMahieu said, “but today was a big step gaining confidence. I think we all kind of expected something good to happen today.

“The first inning kind of got us get our swagger on a little bit again.’’

And just like that, the Yankees are alive, and still awfully dangerous.

“That’s what this team is about, we’ve never been defined by wins and losses,’’ Yankees slugger Aaron Judge said. “We always get up after we get knocked down. We always fight back.

“I know with their crowd everybody will be on us. It will be a tough situation. But we’re looking forward to it. This is what we wanted.

“We thought this series would go six or seven games, and here it is.’’

Follow Nightengale on Twitter @Bnightengale

.@James_Paxton is only the 2nd @Yankees LHP ever with multiple starts of 8+ Ks in the same #postseason.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Facing one of the best pitchers in the world in an elimination game in Game 5 of the ALCS, the New York Yankees needed their typically explosive bats to wake up following three consecutive losses. The Yankees managed to score just six runs in total in Games 2, 3, and 4 to lose control of the ALCS, and Game 5 starter James Paxton allowed a run in a shaky first inning to give the Astros an early lead on Friday night.

Fortunately for Paxton, the Yankees responded immediately in the bottom of the inning. First baseman DJ LaMahieu tied the game off Verlander in just two pitches, hitting the seventh leadoff homer in Yankees postseason history.

DJ Lemahieu isn't ready to go home!!! pic.twitter.com/rgnbvRjKWX

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 18, 2019

Verlander then allowed a single to Aaron Judge and a double to Gleyber Torres to put himself in a jam with zero outs. The Astros ace struck out Giancarlo Stanton and later had Aaron Hicks facing an 0-2 count, but Hicks was able to extend the at-bat and hooked a three-run shot off the foul pole in right field.

GET LOUD NEW YORK!

3-run shot off of the foul pole from Aaron Hicks! pic.twitter.com/SzSagiuqPw

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 18, 2019

Verlander escaped the inning without allowing any further hits, but threw a total of 29 pitches in the inning. With the Astros facing a possible bullpen game if the Yankees can extend the series, Verlander’s rough first inning could have a major impact on Houston’s bullpen.

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CONNECT TWEET LINKEDIN COMMENT EMAIL MORE HOUSTON — With one swing of the bat, Jose Altuve sent the baseball screaming into the air Saturday, and a sellout crowd screaming into the night, winning the Houston Astros the American League pennant.

The game took some bizarre twists and turns Saturday evening, but they're headed to the World Series.

Once again.

The Astros, who blew a 4-2 lead on DJ LeMahieu’s ninth-inning homer, came right back in the bottom of the 10th with Altuve’s blast over the fence in left-center for a 6-4 win in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.

Roberto Osuna gave up the homer in the top of the ninth, which tied a game that the Astros had been leading since the first inning.

The Yankees brought in Aroldis Chapman for the bottom of the frame. After a two-out walk for George Springer, Altuve clubbed an 84-mph slider for his second home run of the series – and fifth of the postseason.

Altuve was named ALCS MVP, going 8-for-23 with six runs in the series.

The Astros get a World Series date with the Washington Nationals where they will be trying to win their second title in three years – while the Nats vie for their first in franchise history

And, now, after all of the dizzying moves with the Astros and Yankees numbing the senses with their "bullpenning" for all of the world to see, we will be reverting back to ol’-fashioned baseball.

ALTUVE SENDS THE @ASTROS TO THE #WORLDSERIES! pic.twitter.com/NYx1yzRFDY — MLB (@MLB) October 20, 2019 We will see future Hall of Famers, and former Cy Young and MVP winners in Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke.

It will be a matchup of the most expensive rotations in World Series history with $200-million-dollar pitchers in Scherzer and Greinke, and $100 million pitchers in Stephen Strasburg and Verlander, to go along with the soon-to-be the richest pitcher in baseball history in Gerrit Cole.

We’ll have a showcase of MVP candidates in third basemen Alex Bregman and Anthony Rendon.

It’s not the Yankees-Los Angeles Dodgers matchup that Major League Baseball and Fox executives wanted, but, this will certainly do.

Altuve watches his two-run homer in the ninth. Altuve watches his two-run homer in the ninth. (Photo: Troy Taormina, USA TODAY Sports) Gone will be the torturous bullpen games.

We’ll see legitimate marquee pitching matchups beginning Tuesday at Minute Maid Park with Scherzer and Cole in Game 1, Strasburg and Verlander in Game 2, and Greinke and Patrick Corbin.

“I think people would rather see that,’’ Cole said, “than TBA vs. TBA.’’

There were five pitching changes in the first three innings alone in Game 6, with 14 pitchers used overall. Nobody besides the families of Brad Peacock and Chad Green will ever remember the starting pitchers in this game.

It was ugly, but the Astros will take it, slaying the mighty Yankees

“Beauty,’’ Hinch said, “is in the eye of the beholder.’’

Pardon Hinch for now wanting to go back to the traditional style of winning, hardly finding the task of managing bullpen games enjoyable.

“It’s miserable. I love when JV or Gerrit goes out there and throws nine scoreless. Those are the fun ones," Hinch said before Saturday's game.

“It's crazy. We're in the Game 6 of the ALCS and we're going to have upwards of double-digit number of pitchers pitching in a game of such magnitude.

“Welcome to 2019.’’

For the Yankees, it's the first time since the 1910s that they've got a decade without reaching the World Series.

And for a franchise that has 27 World Series championships, it leaves the question whether this season was a failure.

“I hate that question,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I know as an organization, myself, our players, we're chasing a championship and we're doing everything we can. We want to be champions. So that's the goal. That's the focus.

“Putting a label, success, fail, all that, I don't really have time for it, honestly.’’

Certainly, the Astros have pulled off one of the most amazing turnarounds in baseball history, losing 324 homers in 2011-2013, to now winning 100 or more games the last three seasons.

“I still remember when we lost a 100 games three years in a row,’’ All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve said. “It seems like we were in the very, very bottom. So the only hope I had was to keep working hard because everybody keeps telling me, “Yeah, we're going to win a championship, we're going to be a really good team. I wanted to be a part of that.’

“It was hard to believe but it happened. I think we learned a lot from losing.’’

The Astros even flaunted their depth in this clincher. They used seven different pitchers, six traditional relievers. Their first baseman, who entered the game with just one hit in 20 at-bats this series, was the offensive hero when Yuli Gurriel hit a three-run homer off Green in the first inning.

The defensive hero was Michael Brantley, who signed a free-agent contract last winter primarily for his bat, made one of the most remarkable postseason plays in franchise history. Aaron Hicks hit a blooper to no-man’s land, only for Brantley to dive, snag the ball with his outstretched glove, jump up, and then throw out Aaron Judge trying to scramble back to first base.

While the Astros move on, the Yankees will re-evaluate their strategy of putting their resources into their bullpen.

They passed on making trades for Verlander, Cole and Greinke over the past few years, with that trio landing with the Astros, and lost out to the in the free-agent bidding for Corbin.

But they paid the price. Their starters pitched the fewest innings by any team to reach the ALCS, with their starters lasting an average of just 4 ⅓ innings this postseason.

Maybe, they’ll go back to being the Yankees again, and write that $220 million-plus paycheck for Cole.

Who knows, maybe, they’ll even start emulating the Astros.

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