If the Houston Astros had their druthers, they should want to see the New York Yankees in the ALCS.
Sorry Neil Greenberg, but the Houston Astros do not want the Cleveland Indians to win the Game Five tonight against the New York Yankees. While the New York Yankees have done what many predicted they wouldn’t do in holding serve against the Indians, winning both Games Three and Four, the Indians are a better matchup for Houston.
The Cleveland Indians are just flat out the better team here. Of course there are stats to back this up like the Indians having better pitching matchups to the Houston Astros offense, or even the Indians simply having the better offense to compete against the Astros rotation.
The New York Yankees were able to avoid an epic Wild Card Game collapse against the Minnesota Twins after surrendering three runs in the first inning, and they were good enough to hold on to a 1-0 Game Three win in the Bronx while facing elimination, but folks they are not good enough to beat the Houston Astros.
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On the year, the Yankees and Astros played seven times. In those seven games, the Astros earned five wins, plating a grand total of 43 runs. Yep, 43 runs. The New York Yankees lost to Dallas Keuchel the only time they faced him, and they have yet to face the resurgent Justin Verlander. That leaves the Yankees in a 2-0 hole off the bat, and we all know the Astros have the offense to dismantle the remaining Yankees starting rotation.
Just because Aroldis Chapman has arguably the fastest arm on the planet, does not mean the Yankees will win this series. So again, sorry Mr. Greenberg, but the speed of a pitch doesn’t mean anything to this Houston squad. If the Astros are going to be defeated in their quest for the World Series, then the Cleveland Indians will be the only threat from the American League.
The Houston Astros have an offense that has been untouched hardly all season long, and now that we’re in October, nothing has changed. After destroying Chris Sale in Game 1, it became abundantly clear that this team will not go quietly even against a Cy Young Finalist.
The Yankees are a good team. They came back from the brink of elimination, and they have a chance to do the unthinkable in beating the Cleveland Indians. Just remember, another advantage for the Astros in the ALCS is that it moves from a best-of-5 to a best-of-7 series. The Yankees have not won consecutive games all season against Houston, and that was the regular season.
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With the ending of tomorrow night’s game comes the ALCS, and with it will we will find out who the second best team in the American League is. If you’re an Astros fan, just pull for the Yankees to win, because you can purchase World Series tickets if they do.