BASEBALL

Astros close to returning to the World Series

6 years ago - Sportingbase

The Houston Astros are two wins away from advancing to the 2019 World Series, two years after they won their first World Series in franchise history in 2017. On Tuesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, the Astros defeated the Yankees 4-1 in game three of the American League Championship Series. With the win, the Astros now lead the best out of seven series two games to one.

The Astros got on Yankees starting pitcher Luis Severino very early in the contest. Jose Altuve, who returned to second in the Yankees batting order, after being dropped to third earlier in the postseason, hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning. With Astros ace Gerrit Cole on the mound, the run gave Houston an immense amount of momentum.

Altuve’s blast was followed by a home run by Josh Reddick in the second inning to put the Astros up 2-0. Then in the seventh inning, the Astros went up 4-0 as a wild pitch allowed Altuve to score his second run of the game and then Yuli Gurriel hit a sacrifice fly which scored Michael Brantley.

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The Yankees did get a solo home run in the eighth inning by Gleyber Torres, but were simply unable to beat Astros closer Roberto Osuna in the ninth inning to generate anymore offensive opportunities. There is a possibility that game four of the ALCS could be postponed due to rain as there is serious precipitation in the New York forecast on Wednesday.

It is going to be tough for the Yankees to regain momentum. Still, the Astros have actually struggled lately in games that Cole or Justin Verlander have not been pitching. Zach Greinke was horrible in game three of the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays, a 10-3 Rays win, and Wade Miley gave up 21 earned runs in 11 1/3 innings in September after an excellent first half of the season.