The Boston Globe - 05.19.2019

4
OCTOBER 5, 2019

By Kristie Rieken ASSOCIATED PRESS Astros 6 Rays 2

HOUSTON — Asked what went wrong for his Tam- pa Bay Rays, manager Kevin Cash invented a word. ‘‘We got Verlandered,’’ Cash said. Justin Verlander looked every bit the October ace, Jose Al- tuve polished his postseason ré- sumé and the Houston Astros kept rolling, beating the Rays, 6-2, on Friday to open their AL Division Series. The Astros, who won a fran- chise-record 107 games for the best record in the majors, be- gan their quest for a second World Series title in three years against a Rays team that downed Oakland, 5-1, in the wild-card game this week. Verlander kept up his domi- nant run this year when he posted an MLB-most 21 wins and fanned 300, allowing just a soft single in seven shutout innings. He struck out eight and improved to 8-0 in 12 career ALDS appearances — he’s 14-7 overall in postseason play. He cracked up when told Cash used his performance to turn his name into a verb. ‘‘It’s a pretty great compli- ment,’’ Verlander said. ‘‘I don’t know what else to say, other than that.’’ Tampa Bay got its only hit off Verlander when Brandon Lowe singled to start the fifth. Verlander ended his day by striking out the side in the seventh, pounding his fist into his glove as he walked off the mound after fanning Lowe. Manager AJ Hinch was asked about Verlander’s knack for getting stronger late in games. ‘‘He’s got an incredible in- stinct for the moment,’’ he said. ‘‘He leaves some gas in his gas tank at the end of his outings

... like a good sprinter, like at
the finish line, he’s going to
win. He’s going to win the race
at the end of his outings.’’
Rays starter Tyler Glasnow
had given up just three singles
when he walked Josh Reddick
on four pitches to begin the
fifth. He struck out George
Springer, but Altuve then
tagged him for a two-run hom-
er, lining a fastball into the left-
field seats.
‘‘I just left that pitch up and
it was a two-run home run,’’
Glasnow said. ‘‘Hindsight, I
would go back and change
some things, but can’t do any-
thing about it now.’’
The sellout crowd of 43,360,
which included Astros Hall of
Famers Nolan Ryan and Craig
Biggio, erupted into deafening
cheers and fans twirled bright
orange towels as Altuve trotted
around the bases, a huge grin
plastered on his face.
Altuve has homered in
Game 1 of the ALDS for three
straight years — including three
against Boston in the 2017
opener — and the small-but-
powerful second baseman now
has nine home runs in 33 ca-
reer postseason games.
‘‘Just breaking through with

the big swing for Jose doesn’t surprise me,’’ Hinch said. ‘‘It’s like clockwork, every ALDS it seems like he busts out with a really good game.’’ Game 2 is Saturday when Gerrit Cole, who has won 16 straight decisions and led the majors in strikeouts, starts against Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell. Altuve’s homer touched off a four-run inning. Brendan McK- ay took over for Glasnow and allowed a single to Michael Brantley before Alex Bregman knocked one off the wall in left for a double. Chaz Roe relieved with two outs and Yuli Gurriel hit a high popup to shallow right field that Lowe chased from second base as right fielder Austin Meadows also dashed in. Lowe looked to have it, so Meadows pulled up — but the ball glanced off Lowe’s glove for an error that allowed two runs to score to push the lead to 4-0. ‘‘I have to catch it plain and simple,’’ Lowe said. ‘‘I called it and I dropped it. Next time I just have to keep going for it andmakeaplayonit.’’ The Astros added two more runs in the seventh after Breg- man walked and stole second base. AL Rookie of the Year can- didate Yordan Alvarez and Gur- riel followed with RBI doubles to make it 6-0. Tampa Bay hit four home runs in its wild-card win Wednesday at Oakland, but did nothing until Verlander left. Pinch-hitter Eric Sogard had an RBI single off Ryan Pressly with two outs in the eighth and scored on a double by Meadows to cut the deficit to 6-2. Glasnow looked strong early and Houston’s powerful offense had trouble stringing anything together off him until Altuve’s shot. The Astros loaded the bases with two outs in the third, but the big righthander struck out Alvarez to end the threat.

By Paul Newberry ASSOCIATED PRESS Braves 3 Cardinals 0

ATLANTA —
Adding anoth-
er chapter to
his remarkable turnaround sea-
son, Mike Foltynewicz threw
seven crisp innings before
pinch-hitter Adam Duvall hit a
two-run homer that carried the
Atlanta Braves to a 3-0 victory
over the St. Louis Cardinals on
Friday, evening the NL Division
Series at one game apiece.
Foltynewicz, who spent a
good chunk of his summer in
Triple-A after a miserable start,
has been a different pitcher
since returning from the mi-
nors. He went 6-1 with a 2.65
ERA over his last 10 starts — a
dominating run that carried
right into the postseason.
The best-of-five series now
shifts to St. Louis, where Mike
Soroka gets the ball for the
Braves in Game 3 on Sunday
against Adam Wainwright.
Going against St. Louis ace
Jack Flaherty, who had one of
the great second halves in base-
ball history, Foltynewicz al-
lowed only three hits, didn’t
walk anyone, and struck out
seven during an 83-pitch out-
ing that kept the Cardinals
from mounting any semblance
of offense.
They only got one runner as
far as second base against him
— in the second when Yadier
Molina singled and Braves sec-

ond baseman Ozzie Albies extended the inning by misplay- ing Paul DeJong’s grounder for an error. No problem for Foltynewicz. He fanned Harrison Bader to end the threat.

After Kolten Wong hit into a double play to end the seventh, Duvall emerged from the dug- out to hit for Foltynewicz in the bottom half. With a runner aboard and two outs, Duvall was greeted by a smattering of boos from the SunTrust Park crowd that clearly wanted Fol- tynewicz to go at least one more inning — especially after the Braves bullpen imploded the night before in a Game 1 loss. The heckles turned to cheers when Duvall drove a 3-2 pitch from Flaherty into the center- field seats, giving the Braves a bit of breathing room. Duvall spent nearly the entire season at Triple-A, where he set a fran- chise record with 32 homers, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say this was as much a victory for the Gwinnett Stripers as the Braves. Max Fried, normally a starter and pitching on back-to-back days for the first time all season, breezed through the eighth before turning it over to Mark Melancon, who gave up four runs in the ninth inning of the series opener, sending the Braves to a 7-6 loss. It was another shaky outing for Melancon, who gave up a pair of one-out singles before striking out Molina and Wong to earn the save. But this one will be remem- bered for Foltynewicz outduel- ing Flaherty, who had surren-

dered three runs only one time in 15 second-half starts. The 23-year-old righthander went 7-2 with an 0.91 ERA in 15 starts after the All-Star break, the third-lowest ERA over the second half in baseball history.

ALDS ASTROS LEAD RAYS, 1-0 Friday, Oct. 4 At Houston 6.............................Rays 2 Schedule Saturday at Houston.........9:07 (FS1) Monday at Tampa ........TBA (MLBN) *Tuesday at Tampa...........TBA (FS1) *Thu., Oct. 10 at Hou........TBA (FS1) YANKEES LEAD TWINS, 1-0 Friday, Oct. 4 At New York 10..............Minnesota 4 Schedule Saturday at NY...................5:07 (FS1) Monday at Minn................TBA (FS1) *Tuesday at Minn..............TBA (FS1) *Thu., Oct. 10 at NY..........TBA (FS1) NLDS CARDINALS, BRAVES TIED, 1-1 Thursday, Oct. 3 St. Louis 7........................at Atlanta 6 Friday, Oct. 4 At Atlanta 3........................St. Louis 0 Schedule Sunday at St. Louis...........TBA (TBS) Monday at St. Louis.........TBA (TBS) *Wednesday at Atl............TBA (TBS) DODGERS LEAD NATIONALS, 1-0 Thursday, Oct. 3 At Los Angeles 6.........Washington 0 Friday, Oct. 4 Washington................at Los Angeles Schedule Sunday at Wash................TBA (TBS) *Monday at Was...............TBA (TBS) *Wednesday at LA............TBA (TBS) * if necessary

Playoff schedule

SATURDAY’S PLAYOFF GAMES ...........2019........... Team ............2019 vs. opp............ ............Last 3 starts............ Odds W-L ERA rec. W-L IP ERA W-L IP ERA MINNESOTA AT NY YANKEES, 5:07 p.m. TBA Off — — 0-0 0-0 0.0 0.00 0-0 0.0 0.00 Tanaka (R) Off 11-9 4.45 19-12 0-0 0.0 0.00 1-0 16.0 5.06 TAMPA BAY AT HOUSTON, 9:07 p.m. Snell (L) +255 6-8 4.29 12-11 0-1 6.0 7.50 0-1 6.0 4.50 Cole (R) -315 20-5 2.50 26-7 0-1 12.2 3.55 3-0 20.0 1.35 Team rec. — Record in games started by pitcher this season

Baseball

At Minute Maid Park, Houston TAMPABAYABRHBIBBSOAvg. Meadowsrf 201120 .50^0 Pham lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .250 Choi 1b 3 0 0 0 1 2 .000 YaDíaz dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .000 BraLowe 2b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .250 d’Arnaud c 4 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Wendle 3b-ss 3 1 1 0 0 2 .333 Kiermaier cf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Adames ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Sogard ph-3b 1 1 1 1 0 0 1.000 Totals 30 2 5 2 3 10 HOUSTON AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Springer cf-rf 4 0 0 0 1 1 .000 Altuve 2b 5 1 1 2 0 0 .200 Brantley lf 4 1 2 0 0 1 .500 Marisnick cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 — Bregman 3b 2 2 1 0 2 0 .500 Alvarez dh 4 1 1 1 0 2 .250 Gurriel 1b 4 0 2 1 0 0 .500 Correa ss 4 0 1 0 0 3 .250 RChirinos c 3 0 1 0 1 1 .333 Reddick rf-lf 3 1 0 0 1 2 .000 Totals 33 6 9 4 5 10 TampaBay................. 000000020 — 251 Houston......................000 040 20x — 6 9 0 E—BraLowe (1).LOB—Tampa Bay 4, Hous- ton 8.2B—Meadows (1), Bregman (1), Alvarez (1), Gurriel (1).HR—Altuve (1), off Glasnow. SB—Springer (1), Bregman (1), Gurriel (1). DP—Tampa Bay 1; Houston 2. Tampa Bay IP H R ER BB SO ERA Glasnow L 0-1 4‚ 4 2 2 3 5 4.15 McKay ‚ 2 2 0 0 1 0.00 Roe 1‚ 0 0 0 1 1 0.00 Drake 1 2 2 2 1 2 18.00 Poche 1 1 0 0 0 1 0.00 Houston IP H R ER BB SO ERA Verlandr W 1-0 7 1 0 0 3 8 0.00 Pressly „ 4 2 2 0 0 27.00 Harris ‚000000.00 Osuna 1 0 0 0 0 2 0.00 Inherited runners-scored—Roe 2-2, Harris 2-0.NP—Glasnow 76, McKay 9, Roe 22, Drake 25, Poche 13, Verlander 100, Pressly 18, Harris 5, Osuna 12.Umpires—Home, John Tumpane; First, Bruce Dreckman; Second, Mark Wegn- er; Third, James Hoye; Left, Jerry Meals; Right, D.J. Reyburn.T—3:24.A—43,360 (41,168).

Astros 6, Rays 2

At SunTrust Park, Atlanta ST. LOUIS AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Fowler rf 4 0 0001.125 Edman 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .222 Goldschmidt1b 401001.375 Ozunalf 402000.500 Molina c 4 0 2 0 0 1 .250 Wong2b 400002.250 DeJongss 300002.286 Bader cf 3 0 0 0 0 3 .167 Flaherty p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000 JosMartínezph 101000.500 TyleWebb p 0 0 0 0 0 0 — Totals 33060011 ATLANTA AB R H BI BB SO Avg. AcuñaJr.cf 401002.500 Albies2b 411002.125 Freeman1b 300010.286 Donaldson3b 401101.125 Markakis lf-rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .222 Joyce rf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .200 Fried p 0 0 0 0 0 0 — Melancon p 0 0 0 0 0 0 — McCann c 3 1 1 0 0 0 .400 Swanson ss 3 0 1 0 0 2 .286 Foltynewicz p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Duvall ph-lf 1 1 1 2 0 0 1.000 Totals 31 3 8 3 1 10 St. Louis......................000 000 000 — 0 6 0 Atlanta........................100 000 20x — 3 8 1 E—Albies (1).LOB—St. Louis 6, Atlanta 5. 2B—Acuña Jr. (2).HR—Duvall (1), off Flaherty. CS—Markakis (1).DP—St. Louis 1; Atlanta 1. St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO ERA Flaherty L 0-1 7833183.86 Webb 1 0 0 0 0 2 6.75 Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO ERA FltynwiczW1-0 7300070.00 Fried 1100020.00 Melancon S 1 1 2 0 0 0 2 18.00 WP—Flaherty 2.NP—Flaherty 117, TyleWebb 18, Foltynewicz 81, Fried 13, Melan- con 22.Umpires—Home, Alan Porter; First, Sam Holbrook; Second, Jim Wolf; Third, Tom Hallion; Left, Ed Hickox; Right, Pat Hoberg. T—2:46.A—42,911 (41,084).

Braves 3, Cardinals 0

Verlandergets

Astrosstarted

He throws seven

scoreless in win

TIM WARNER/GETTY IMAGES Justin Verlander allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings to beat Tampa and improve to 8-0 in 12 ALDS appearances.

Foltynewicz,BravesblankCardinals

By Mike Fitzpatrick ASSOCIATED PRESS Yankees 10 Twins 4

NEW YORK —
DJ LeMahieu
homered and
drove in four runs, Gleyber
Torres broke a tie with a two-
run double, and the New York
Yankees extended their Octo-
ber mastery of the Minnesota
Twins with a 10-4 victory Fri-
day night in the AL Division
Series opener.
Aaron Judge made two div-
ing catches in right field as the
AL East champions handed
Minnesota its major league-re-
cord 14th consecutive playoff
defeat — 11 of them to the
Yankees since 2004. The sec-
ond grab thwarted a potential
rally and left grateful reliever
Zack Britton with both hands
on his head to end the top of
the seventh, when the Twins
were still within striking dis-
tance.
Brett Gardner also went
deep for the Bronx Bombers in
a playoff matchup between
teams that finished neck-and-
neck this year for the most
homerunsinbaseballhistory.
Minnesota’s Bomba Squad
socked 307, one more than
New York, as both clubs blew
away the previous mark of 267
set by the Yankees last year.
But in the 14th postseason
meeting of 100-win teams, it
was more of the same Yankees
dominance against the Twins
— even though many of Min-
nesota’s players and coaches
weren’t around for most of it.
Minnesota, the AL Central
champion for the first time in
nine years, was hurt by eight
walks and hasn’t won a playoff
game since Johan Santana
beat Hall of Famer Mike Muss-
ina, 2-0, in the 2004 Division
Series opener at Yankee Stadi-
um.
The Red Sox also lost 13
straight postseason games,
from 1986–95.
Jorge Polanco, Nelson Cruz
and Miguel Sanó homered for
Minnesota.
Rookie reliever Zack Littell,
a former Yankees farmhand
who was traded to the Twins,
took the loss after a brief and
messy outing. With the score
tied in the fifth, he walked
Judge, threw a wild pitch and
plunked Brett Gardner.
Giancarlo Stanton drew the
second of his three critical
walks to load the bases, bring-
ing up Torres. He fought back
from 0-and-2 to a full count
against Tyler Duffey and
pulled a sharp one-hopper
that deflected off the glove of a
diving Sanó behind third base,

giving New York a 5-3 lead. Sanó sliced a solo homer in the sixth off winner Tommy Kahnle, who retired cleanup batter Eddie Rosario with two on to end the fifth. LeMahieu launched his first postseason home run, in the sixth, and Gardner also hit a solo drive off rookie Cody Stashak, who was born in nearby New Jersey and went to college at St. John’s in New York City. LeMahieu, who dropped an easy popup at first base early in the game, made it 10-4 in the seventh when the leadoff man laced a three-run double off Kyle Gibson for his third hit. The three-time All-Star and 2016 NL batting champ clapped at second base as fans in the sellout crowd of 49,233 chanted ‘‘MVP! MVP!’’ for LeMahieu, who left Colorado to sign a $24 million, two-year contract with the Yankees as a free agent last offseason. ‘‘Can’t wait to be here to- morrow and do it again,’’ LeMahieu said. New York was down 2-0 before scoring three runs in the third against starter José Ber- ríos. Edwin Encarnación knocked in one with his second double of the night, and two more scored when the Twins were unable to turn a potential inning-ending double play on Torres with the bases loaded.

With the 6-foot-6, 245- pound Stanton bearing down on him with a hard, clean slide directly into the bag, rookie second baseman Luis Arráez relayed low and wide to first. C.J. Cron reached for the throw and could have caught it, but the ball got past him and he was charged with an error that allowed two runs to score. Polanco hit a tying single on the ninth pitch of his at-bat with two outs in the fifth to chase Yankees starter James Paxton from his postseason debut. Riddled by injuries all year, the Yankees had 30 players make a combined 39 trips to the injured list — both big league records. Still, they rolled to 103 wins and their first AL East title since 2012. Before the postseason opener, New York reveled in its resilience and depth, show- ing an out-of-the-ordinary vid- eo montage on the giant score- board of star players getting hurt and later coming back — sandwiched around big contri- butions from their many un- heralded replacements. It took all of two batters and nine pitches for someone to hit a home run, when Polan- co took Paxton deep. Cruz cleared the short right field porch with his 17th postseason homer in the third to make it 2-0.

Yankees overpower Twins

LeMahieu leads

way with 4 RBIs

At Yankee Stadium MINNESOTA AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Garverc 500003 .000 Polancoss 312220.667 Cruzdh 311122.333 Rosariorf 500002.000 Sanó3b 411102.250 Keplercf 200020.000 Gonzalezlf 402002.500 Cron1b 400001.000 Arraez2b 311000.333 Schoop ph-2b 1 00001.000 Totals 34474613 NY YANKEES AB R H BI BB SO Avg. LeMahieu1b 523402.600 Judgerf 321020.333 Gardner cf 421102.250 Encarnacióndh 512101.400 Stantonlf 100030.000 Maybin pr-lf 1 10001.000 Torres2b 311311.333 Sánchezc 300013.000 Gregorius ss 310012.000 Urshela3b 400000.000 Totals 32 10 8 9 8 12 Minnesota.................101 011 000 — 4 7 1 NY Yankees..............003 022 30x — 10 8 1 E—Cron (1), LeMahieu (1).LOB—Minnesota 9, NY 7.2B—Gonzalez (1), Arraez (1), LeMa- hieu (1), Encarnación 2 (2), Torres (1).HR— Polanco (1), off Paxton, Cruz (1), off Paxton, Sanó (1), off Kahnle, LeMahieu (1), off Stashak, Gardner (1), off Stashak.SB—Polan- co (1), Maybin 2 (2), Torres (1).DP—NY 1. Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO ERA Berríos 4431362.25 LittellL0-1 002210 — Duffey 1100130.00 Stashak 1 2 220018.00 Gibson 11333127.00 Graterol 1000020.00 NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO ERA Paxton 4„533185.79 Ottavino 000010 — Kahnle „ 1 1 1 1 1 13.50 GreenW1-0 „000000.00 Britton 1000110.00 Happ 1100120.00 Chapman 1 0 00110.00 Littell pitched to 2 batters in 5th. Ottavino pitched to 1 batter in 5th.Inherited runners- scored—Duffey 2-2, Ottavino 1-0, Kahnle 2-0, Green 1-0.HBP—by Littell (Gardner).WP—Lit- tell.PB—Sánchez.NP—Berríos 88, Littell 8, Duffey 25, Stashak 20, Gibson 34, Graterol 18, Paxton 86, Ottavino 6, Kahnle 13, Green 8, Britton 15, Happ 23, Chapman 18.Umpires— Home, Manny Gonzalez; First, Todd Tichenor; Second, Gary Cederstrom; Third, Lance Barksdale; Left, Eric Cooper; Right, Adrian Johnson.T—4:15.A—49,233 (47,309).

Yankees 10, Twins 4

SETH WENIG/ASSOCIATED PRESS Gleyber Torres (left) and Didi Gregorius celebrate after scoring on a bases-clearing double by DJ LeMahieu during the seventh inning of Yankees’ Game 1 victory in the ALDS.

The Boston Globe - 05.19.2019

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