Astros win intense game over Red Sox, advance to first AL Championship Series

BOSTON – It was a move that seemed borne of desperation at the time. But it turned out to be the move that delivered the ALDS-clinching win to the Houston Astros, who beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4, in Game 4 at Fenway Park Monday afternoon.

It was a game that included several shifts in scoring, shifts in momentum and tremendous shifts in emotion.

“The emotion is great on the back end,” said Astros manager A.J. Hinch. “It's pretty agonizing during the game and we're pretty exhausted. But what an emotional day for us. Obviously it was a big game. You got a lot of different things working throughout the whole game, really from the very beginning.

“Our guys just hung in there the whole time. We had a ton of opportunities early. So to be able to get back in the game, even though it was a one-run game. Was pretty emotional.”

Putting all their chips on the table, the Astros turned to Justin Verlander, the right-hander they acquired Aug. 31 to pitch in such high-stakes situations. This time, though, it was from the bullpen. Verlander entered in the fifth inning, with one on, one out and the Astros holding a precarious 2-1 lead.

Initially, though, it seemed turning to their ace at that point would be a bust. Verlander, who was making his first career appearance in relief – he later said he had never pitched in relief in his entire career, including Little League – gave up a two-run, go-ahead homer to Andrew Benintendi. The left-handed-hitting Benintendi, the first batter Verlander faced in the game, entered with a .167 average in the three previous games in the series.

“Justin Verlander wanted the ball,” Hinch said. “He was very good about preparation. It did cut out of his routine, which is the one thing you question. He's been doing this routine for 13 years, but he comes in and has the emotion of the home run, and just like that, kind of a lesser man might have caved in that situation because of the big moment, woke up the crowd, Benintendi's circling the bases. Those outs after that were pretty huge."

But that was the only hit Verlander allowed in his 2 2/3 innings. Instead of wearing the mantle

of the goat, Verlander got the win, his second in the series.

“I don’t’ really know how to describe it,” Verlander said. “There were so many things that were against the norm for me. … Obviously, worst-case scenario happened with the first batter. Once I was able to get out of that inning and sit down and just reassess and reset, I could say OK, this a new era and treat it as such.”

Boston, meanwhile, had turned to its ace, left-hander Chris Sale, to work in relief in the game. He was nearly lights-out. Until he wasn’t. He recorded 1-2-3 innings in the fourth and fifth.

But coming out for the eighth may have been asking too much. He gave up a lead-off homer to Alex Bregman that tied the game. Sale went 4 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on four hits with no walks and six strikeouts. He took the loss, his second of the series.

Closer Craig Kimbrel replaced Sale with two outs in the eighth. He gave up an inherited run and another in the ninth when Carlos Beltran, pinch-hitting in the designated hitter spot, hit an RBI double to left, scoring Marwin Gonzalez, who reached when Kimbrel hit him with a pitch.

And it was a vital run. Astros closer Ken Giles gave up a lead-off, inside-the-park homer to Rafael Devers in the ninth.

This was Houston’s first postseason series win since 2005. It was important to them, not only for the team.

“It's big. We felt like that we could win this series, but we knew it was going to be tough,” Hinch said.

"We want to win for (Houston), we want to win for us, we want to win because we showed up in spring training to try to win a World Series.”

Now, the Astros await the winner of the Cleveland Indians-New York Yankees ALDS.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/10/09/astros-advance-alcs-red-sox/748337001/