New York Yankees: Masahiro Tanaka Pitches Well in ALCS Game 1 Loss

Masahiro Tanaka pitched well in Game 1 of the ALCS but the New York Yankees lost 2-1 to the Houston Astros.

After completely dominating the heavily favored Cleveland Indians in Game 3 of the ALDS last Sunday night to keep the New York Yankees postseason alive, Masahiro Tanaka followed up that performance by battling Friday night against Houston Astros starter Dallas Keuchel in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

Despite the loss, Tanaka was excellent against arguably the best offensive lineup in the majors. He pitched six solid innings, allowing four hits and two runs. In the bottom of the 4th inning, potential AL MVP Jose Altuve made his presence felt as his single and stolen base got the inning started. Altuve scored the first of two runs off a Carlos Correa single. Correa would later score off an RBI-single by Yuli Gurriel.

Dallas Keuchel was very good for the Astros. He often stifled Yankee batters, working the plate with pitches from side to side, throwing seven solid innings, striking out ten and allowing four hits. Truthfully, the Yankees made the Astros starter look much better than he really was Friday night. The Yankees hitters reached base more than the Houston hitters but they failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position. The difference maker in the game was excellent, aggressive base running by Altuve and Correa.

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In the top of the fifth inning, with runners on first and second with no outs, the Yankees failed to score a run as Todd Frazier flew out, Brett Gardner struck out, and Aaron Judge hit a liner to shallow left field where Astros Marwin Gonzalez gunned Greg Bird out at the plate.

The baserunning blunder by Bird proved to be vital in Friday night’s loss as the Yankees were able to cut the deficit to one in the 9th inning on a Bird solo home run off Astros closer Ken Giles. Even though they’re down 0-1 in the series, these Yankees have a lot of fight. After being down 0-2 against the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS, this isn’t unfamiliar territory for the Baby Bombers as they were able to eventually overcome that deficit and win the series.

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The key for the New York Yankees moving forward is to be more aggressive on the basepaths and improve their hitting with runners in scoring position. Luis Severino is slated to start Game 2 against Justin Verlander Saturday. Hopefully, the Yankees bounce back and tie the series at one game apiece.

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