Astros’ Offense Powers Past White Sox in ALDS

On Tuesday, October 12, the Houston Astros blew out the Chicago White Sox, 10-1, to clinch the American League Championship Series.  In this Division Series, where Game 4 was delayed one day due to rain, the Astros’ deep lineup proved to be too much for White Sox pitching.

In a matchup of two division winners, Houston had home field advantage based on a higher regular season record.  With the first two games at home, the Astros took advantage.  In front of an energized fan base, Houston hitters pummeled out scores of six and nine to support solid pitching efforts and win both games.

As the series moved to Chicago, the Astros did not leave their bats back home.  They scored six runs in Game 3, but that was not enough to win the series.  Two days later, they scored ten runs to leave no doubt as to which team deserved to advance.  A raucous crowd on the South Side did not help their home team’s starting pitching, which was hit hard throughout the series.

OF Kyle Tucker led the charge for the Astros with two home runs and two steals in the series, but he was certainly not alone.  The only other home runs came from fearsome DH Yordan Alvarez and former MVP 2B Jose Altuve, but Houston did not need the long ball.  As a team, the Astros wracked up 40 hits and 18 walks, constantly putting pressure on their opponents.  The three aforementioned players plus SS Carlos Correa each an OPS over 1.000 for the series.  OF Michael Brantley led the way with seven hits, while Alvarez earned six walks.

The strong showing at the plate should not completely overshadow the Houston pitching.  Rookie of the Year candidate SP Luis Garcia was hit hard in Game 3, but his rotation mates bailed him out.  Ace SP Lance McCullers shoved in his two starts, giving up just one run in his ten and two thirds innings.  SP Framber Valdez did not have his best stuff with four runs allowed, but the bullpen pitched better than expected.

In a unit with a lot of question marks, the relievers did their jobs for the most part.  SP Zack Greinke pitched a scoreless inning while coming back from injury, and he will likely start in the ALCS.  Swingman Cristian Javier has started in the past, but he pitched 2.2 scoreless relief innings in Game 3.  RP Ryan Pressly unsurprisingly had three shutdown appearances, but so did RP’s Ryne Stanek and Phil Maton.

While their own pitching was solid overall, the Astros beat up on the White Sox arms.  The rotation of Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, and Carlos Rodon were all great in the regular season, but they did not have it this series.  None of them got through five innings, but more crucially they each got hit around.  Rodon’s start was the least ugly, but he still gave up two runs in 2.2 innings.

The Chicago relievers also struggled much more than usual.  Star CP’s Liam Hendriks and Craig Kimbrel both had ERA’s of 9, and lefty specialist RP Aaron Bummer wasn’t much better at 8.10.  RP Michael Kopech did not provide necessary long relief because he gave up six runs in two appearances.  In short, the Astros had answers for almost every pitcher Tony La Russa put out there.

Next up for the Astros is a coin flip matchup with the Boston Red Sox, another team with a deep lineup, rotation questions and a shaky bullpen.  As expected, there have already been a lot of long home runs and short leashes after the first two games.  With the series shifting to Boston, the Astros will once again have to weather a wild crowd motivated for another unlikely championship.

There is some new concern on the mound for Houston, as McCullers and Garcia are both hurt at the moment.  The former was left off the ALCS roster, and the latter was pulled early in Game 2.  CF Jake Meyers is also out after running into the wall. The Astros will have to rely more on their thin pitching depth, and the Red Sox are already taking advantage.  Still, the bats will always keep the Astros in the game and the rest of the series.