ALCS Game 2: Astros v. Yankees

At one point this season, the New York Yankees were on pace to win more games than any team in Major League Baseball history. By the All-Star break, they were on pace to win 113 games. Then they played .500 ball during the 2nd half.

With Aaron Judge headed to free agency and New York looking down the barrel of its third ALCS loss to the Astros since 2017, this ALCS feels like a make-or-break series. After last night’s game 1 loss, they need a win tonight to avoid going down 2-0 in a series. Historically, teams who go down 2-0 in best-of-seven postseason series’ are 14-74.

The Yankee offense was stifled by the ageless Justin Verlander, who struck out 11 New York batters and gave up just three hits in six innings of work. Harrison Bader’s 2nd inning solo home run was the only offense they could muster against the former AL Central ace.

They’ll need more than that tonight against lefty Framber Valdez. New York sends Luis Severino to the mound, who was hit very hard in his first start of the postseason. He’ll face an Astros lineup that hit three homers in the ALCS opener. Houston sends the exact same lineup into game 2, while the Yankees have four different starters in their lineup. Here’s what both teams will look like this evening.