The Houston Astros drew first blood in this year’s ALCS games as they contained the Boston Red Sox 7-2 on Saturday.
In a game that was far from a grand opening, the Astros dodged wild pitches, errors and hit batters to contain a sloppy Red Sox 7-2 and lead the American League Championship Series best of sevens 1-0. The second game will be played on Sunday night at Fenway Park in Boston.
Saturday’s game was far from impressive and maybe the numbing temperatures had something to do with it. Pitchers struggled to grip bats but the Astros nonetheless emerged the winners.
“That (fifth) inning I had kind of lost my feel a bit. Couldn’t point a finger to why.” Justin Verlander spoke of the cold temperatures. “The tying run scoring was a little disappointing…but once that happens, then you’ve got to reset and not relinquish the lead.
The Houston-based team combined four runs on four hits and nine walks and three hits by pitchers. They got their first home run late in the ninth inning when Yuli Gurriel and Josh Reddick made one each.
Boston’s Eduardo Nunez said the team just had a bad game after he made two conspicuous errors.
“Sometimes you have a bad game,” Nunez said. “I think we had a bad game in the wrong spot, wrong game, and wrong situation.”
Maybe it is because of the weather or it was just a bad game, but the two teams didn’t perform at their best. A series of errors showed that both teams have their weak points and that the title could go to either team.
