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This has been a peculiar ALCS.
The Yankees blew out the home team 7-0 in Game 1, holding the Astros to three hits in their hitter-friendly home park.
Then Game 2 went 11 innings and the Yankees had several opportunities to win the game before Carlos Correa’s walkoff home run.
The Astros have utterly dominated the two games so far at Yankee Stadium, outscoring the Yankees 12-4 and both times, taking early-inning leads that they held on to.
Now one of the best pitchers on the planet, Justin Verlander, will be hoping to lead Houston to their second World Series in the last three seasons. In my view, he’ll do it and it’ll be Astros vs. Nationals beginning Tuesday in Houston.
Here’s all the info you’ll need for today’s game. Note the earlier starting time, which is likely being done so the teams have an extra hour of rest if they have to fly to Houston for Game 6 Saturday. Of course, the Astros are hoping they can close things out tonight.
Game time for ALCS Game 5: 6 p.m. CT. TV: FS1. Announcers: Joe Buck, John Smoltz. Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci. Buck did not call Thursday’s Game 4, as he was in Denver calling the Broncos/Chiefs NFL game. He’ll be back tonight.
Pitching matchup:
Justin Verlander (Astros) vs. James Paxton (Yankees)
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
MLB.com Gameday for Astros/Yankees
Baseball-reference.com game preview for Astros/Yankees
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This is the only thread for today’s game. Enjoy, and discuss amongst yourselves.