MLB playoffs: Astros pound Yankees to force Game 7 in ALCS

Jason Foster

MLB playoffs: Astros pound Yankees to force Game 7 in ALCS image

For a much more detailed look at this game, click here for our Game Center. If you want to catch up here, scroll to the bottom and read from there.

ALCS Game 6 final: Astros 7, Yankees 1

(Series tied 3-3)

Here comes Game 7. The Astros' offense finally got off the deck Friday after a long absence and rode a strong outing from Justin Verlander to tie the ALCS at three games apiece and force a winner-take-all Game 7 on Saturday night.

The Astros ended a long scoring drought with a three-run fifth, highlighted by a two-run single from Jose Altuve, who had been mostly a non-factor in the series since Game 2. The Yankees made it interesting over the next few innings, but Houston eventually pulled away with a four-run eighth that started with an Altuve solo homer. Verlander was dominant for much of the game, scattering five hits across seven innings while walking one and striking out eight.

The home team has won every game in the series, which has to have the Astros feeling confident heading into Saturday.

For a complete recap of this one, scroll to the bottom.

*****

Ken Giles gave up a one-out single to Castro and a walk to Hicks, but then got Frazier to fly out and Headley to strike out swinging. Astros win 7-1, and this thing's going to Game 7.

Ken Giles is on to close it out for Houston.

Top of the ninth (Astros 7, Yankees 1)

*****

In play, run(s). Jose Altuve is back, folks. He pulled a line-drive homer into the Crawford Boxes to give the Astros a huge insurance run, perhaps inspired by the crowd's chants of, "M-V-P." It's a short porch in left, approximately 48 Altuves.

Anyway, Correa followed that with a sharp double down the left-field line, and Gurriel followed that with an opposite field single to right, and then Bregman split the gap with a two-run double to put Houston up 6-1. Bregman wound up at third after a bad throw from Gregorius, then eventually scored on a sac fly from Gattis to make it 7-1. Hey, speaking of "7," chances of Game 7: 99.98 percent.

Baseball, amirite?

Bottom of the eighth (Astros 3, Yankees 1)

*****

ALL RISE! Aaron Judge clobbered a homer onto the train tracks in left center to make it 3-1. That was a mammoth blast. He's a strong, strong human man entity. Peacock pitched around it, though, and kept the Yankees from getting any closer.

Top of the eighth (Astros 3, Yankees 0)

*****

Chad Green has kept the Yankees in the game by (mostly) keeping the Astros off the bases. He got McCann to fly out to center, then his high-90s heat took care of Springer and Reddick. The Yankees are running out of outs, but they won't have to face Verlander — he's done after 99 pitches and Brad Peacock is in to pitch. But that's 24 straight scoreless innings in elimination games for Verlander.

Bottom of the seventh (Astros 3, Yankees 0)

*****

Wow. What a tense inning. Verlander still had his velocity, but his command dipped a bit, which led to a lead-off walk to Greg Bird and a replay-reviewed plunking of Castro soon after to bring the tying run to the plate. After a 10-pitch at-bat, Verlander got Aaron Hicks swinging on a nasty slider. Then ... holy crap, Springer robbed Todd Frazier of extra bases with a leaping catch at the wall for the second out.

That sound you heard was the sound of Yankees fans throwing things again the wall at the same time. Then Headley grounded out to second to end the inning, and you got the feeling that the Yankees really missed their chance. At the risk of sounding cliched, that was a gutty inning from Verlander. 

Top of the seventh (Astros 3, Yankees 0)

*****

David Green allowed a two-out walk to Marwin Gonzalez, but struck out Evan Gattis swinging on a 3-2 to get the Yankees back up to the plate. It'll be interesting to see how Verlander looks in the seventh after that long, high-stress sixth.

Bottom of the sixth (Astros 3, Yankees 0)

*****

The Yankees got hits from Headley and Gregorius, but Verlander kept them off the board again. This included fanning Judge for the rookie's record-tying 26th strikeout of this postseason (which means I have to update that "unforunate postseason records" list again) and, most notably, a check-swing grounder from Sanchez on a 3-0 pitch to end the inning.

There's still a long way to go, but with a three-run lead and Verlander on, there's an excellent chance we'll be there again tomorrow night.

Top of the sixth (Astros 3, Yankees 0)

*****

The Astros finally broke their scoring drought as Serverino proved to be the first pitcher to crack. Bregman drew a lead-off walk and took second on a groundout, then Evan Gattis also took a base on balls. (Related: Gattis' pitch recognition seems to have gotten much better since his early days with the Braves, when he was prone to swing at anything.) Then Brian McCann laid off some close pitches and drilled a double to right to give the 'Stros a 1-0 lead with one out.

After another walk, this time to Springer, loaded the bases, Reddick popped out to shallow center for the second out. But then Jose Altuve finally showed up again and drilled a two-run single to left to make it 3-0 and chase Severino from the game. With that single, Altuve slid back into your timeline like ...

The Yankees handed ball to Chad Green to put the fire out, and he did just that, getting Correa to pop out to second.

Bottom of the fifth (Yankees 0, Astros 0)

*****

Joe Buck said on TV that the teams are each hitting .169 in this series at Minute Maid Park. Well, that went down a little for the Yankees as Verlander toyed with them yet again. Todd Frazier took some sort of hideous, experimental swing as he fanned for the third out (though, to be fair, he homered with a similar ugly swing the other night). "Filthy" is a word I've seen on Twitter to describe Verlander's night. I'll allow it. Also acceptable: dirty, disgusting, unclean, possibly unholy. Just think: He's this good at baseball AND engaged to Kate Upton.

Top of the fifth (Yankees 0, Astros 0)

*****

Jose Altuve struck out swinging and gave some grief to the home plate ump after what he thought was a bad strike-two pitch. He might've had a beef, but the fact remains that he's still not a factor in this series. That will need to change if the Astros are gonna come back and make a trip to the World Series. Meanwhile, Carlos Correa singled sharply into right center with two outs for Houston's first hit. It re-energized the crowd, but that's all it did, as Gurriel flew out to center to end the frame. That's 15 straight scoreless innings for the Astros, a season high.

Bottom of the fourth (Yankees 0, Astros 0)

*****

Verlander again gave the Yankees fits with a 1-2-3 inning. He's got all his pitches working. Yankees can't make good contact. 

Top of the fourth (Yankees 0, Astros 0)

(Between innings note: I continue to love MLB Network's "Can't Fight This Feeling" commercial. That was my favorite song in third grade.)

*****

The Astros went 1-2-3. Nothin' doin'. Severino has looked just as good as Verlander. He struck out George Springer on a 101 mph heater to end the inning. That'll play. Based on the early innings, it seems like this could be an offensive-challenged night. And if a low-scoring game becomes a battle of the bullpens, the Yankees would have the advantage.

Bottom of the third (Yankees 0, Astros 0)

*****

Chase Headley's one-out single did nothing. The Yankees went quietly thereafter, including Judge's 25th strikeout of the postseason. He's oh-so-close to catching Alfonso Soriano for the all-time single-postseason record (26). There's an excellent chance it will happen in this game because Verlander is good at pitching.

Top of the third (Yankees 0, Astros 0)

*****

Yuli Gurriel led off with a walk — and a bat flip. I love baseball. Play the game the right way? Well, it's a game. So one would think having fun is the right way. I really want to see a bat flip on catcher interference, which, given how catcher interference has really become a postseason thing in recent years, probably has a good chance of happening. Meanwhile, Alex Bregman did not bat flip on his strikeout. That's probably good, actually. And neither did Marwin Gonzalez when he popped out to left to end the inning. Maybe some day.

Bottom of the second (Yankees 0, Astros)

*****

Gary Sanchez, who is big and strong and can hit the ball a long way, reached on a 75-foot infield dribbler toward third base to start things. It'll look like a line-drive in the box score, as they say. So very true, but it didn't produce a run for the Yankees as Verlander retired the next three. He's looked strong so far.

Top of the second (Yankees 0, Astros 0)

*****

Severino had a very easy first inning, getting the 'Stros 1-2-3. Jose Altuve has pretty much been neutralized since Game 2. That's sub-optimal for the Astros.

Luis Severino on the mound for the Yankees.

Bottom of the first (Yankees 0, Astros 0)

(Between innings note: Domino's Pizza had a commercial that featured the Noid. And all children of the '80s said ... amen.)

*****

Brett Gardner's lead-off single was quickly erased as Aaron Judge grounded into a 6-4 double play. But, hey, at least he didn't strike out. I kid, Aaron, I kid. You're 11 feet tall and could crush me with your weak-side hand. Man, the Houston crowd was pumped as Didi Gregorius popped out to short to end the inning. Can Severino keep the crowd out of the game? We'll see. 

Justin Verlander on the mound for the Astros.

Top of the first (Yankees 0, Astros 0)

*****

Happy Friday night, baseball fans!

The Yankees and Astros are about to do battle in Game 6 of the ALCS, with New York just one win from its first World Series since 2009. The Astros, meanwhile, will try to regain their mojo after watching a 2-0 series lead evaporate with three straight losses in the Bronx.

It'll be Luis Severino vs. Justin Verlander. Should be a good one.

I'll be your host again tonight, offering updates, highlights and hopefully a healthy amount of value-added gifs.

Let's do it.

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Jason Foster

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Jason Foster joined The Sporting News in 2015 after stops at various news outlets where he held a variety of reporting and editing roles and covered just about every topic imaginable. He is a member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and a 1998 graduate of Appalachian State University.