ALDS Game One

The feel of the postseason is definitely much different this year. In 2014 we were the scrappy underdogs who ended a 29-year drought by barely squeaking in as the wild card winner. This time around we were on top of the division by mid season but limped over the finish line thanks to a dismal September.

Sadly, the limping team showed up to play this evening. The Royals weren’t bad, really. The Astros were just better. Other than two solo-shot home runs by Kendrys Morales, we put together pretty much no offense at all. The Astros weren’t exactly tearing the covers off the balls, but they managed to take the lead early and hold onto it.

An extended rain delay didn’t exactly help matters. Yordano Ventura wasn’t off to a stellar start, so it was actually helpful when Chris Young took his place at the end of the delay. However, the extended down time gave a large chunk of the crowd enough time to get drunk on expensive beer, which overall tended to make them even less engaged once play resumed. Without massive cheering to buoy our guys up and freak out the visitors, the Royals never seemed to have a chance.

It’s hard not to imagine that this is how the rest of the series will go. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

ASTROS (5) AT ROYALS (2)

ASTROS               AB  R  H BI  ROYALS               AB  R  H BI
Jose Altuve           5  1  3  1  Alcides Escobar       4  0  0  0  
George Springer       4  2  2  1  Ben Zobrist           4  0  2  0  
Carlos Correa         5  0  1  0  Lorenzo Cain          4  0  1  0  
Colby Rasmus          3  1  1  2  Eric Hosmer           4  0  0  0  
Evan Gattis           4  0  1  1  Kendrys Morales       4  2  2  2  
Luis Valbuena         3  0  0  0  Mike Moustakas        3  0  0  0  
Chris Carter          4  0  1  0  Salvador Perez        4  0  0  0  
Jason Castro          4  0  0  0  Alex Gordon           4  0  1  0  
Jake Marisnick        4  1  2  0  Alex Rios             2  0  0  0  
TOTALS               36  5 11  5  TOTALS               33  2  6  2

ASTROS                        210 010 010 -- 5  
ROYALS                        010 100 000 -- 2  

LOB--ASTROS 7, ROYALS 6. 2B--Jake Marisnick. HR--Colby
Rasmus, George Springer, Kendrys Morales (2). HBP--Mike
Moustakas. SB--Colby Rasmus, Ben Zobrist.

 ASTROS                          IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Collin McHugh                  6.00    4    2    2    1    1    2
Tony Sipp                      1.00    0    0    0    0    0    0
Will Harris                    0.67    2    0    0    0    1    0
Oliver Perez                   0.33    0    0    0    0    0    0
Luke Gregerson                 1.00    0    0    0    0    2    0
 ROYALS                     
Yordano Ventura                2.00    4    3    3    1    2    0
Chris Young                    4.00    3    1    1    2    7    1
Kelvin Herrera                 1.00    1    0    0    0    2    0
Ryan Madson                    1.00    2    1    1    0    3    1
Luke Hochevar                  1.00    1    0    0    0    0    0

SO--Colby Rasmus, Luis Valbuena (3), Chris Carter (2), Jason
Castro (3), Evan Gattis, Jake Marisnick, George Springer,
Carlos Correa (2), Kendrys Morales, Alex Rios, Alcides
Escobar, Salvador Perez. BB--Colby Rasmus, Luis Valbuena,
George Springer, Alex Rios.