Can Astros keep offense going against Sabathia and rested Yankees bullpen?

The Houston Astros forced a Game 7 of the ALCS against the New York Yankees Friday, winning Game 6 by the score of 7-1.

The Astros hadn’t had too much offense over the course of the series, scoring just nine runs over the first five games.

The Astros offense came roaring back in Game 6, beginning with knocking out Yankees starter Luis Severino after just 4.2 innings.

They scored three runs beginning with a ground rule double by Brian McCann that scored Alex Bregman and moved Evan Gattis to third.

American League MVP candidate Jose Altuve then plated Gattis and McCann on a sharp line drive to left.

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After the other AL MVP frontrunner Aaron Judge hit a solo shot off Brad Peacock in the top of the eighth inning, making it 3-1, things looked a bit dicey for the Astros.

Still, Peacock got the three key outs needed to end the inning.

That’s when the Astros offense we’d been seeing all season really came to life.

After a leadoff home run by Altuve the Astros went on to score three more runs, all off Yankees reliever David Robertson, who was having a surprising off-night.

Still, Robertson threw just 12 total pitches and will be available for tonight’s Game 7.

With the score now 7-1 the Yankees didn’t have to use their real bullpen weapons, Tommy Kahnle and Aroldis Chapman. Chapman is the hardest throwing pitcher in the game right now and unlike the Astros flame thrower Ken Giles, Chapman’s control is usually on point.

Kahnle has been somewhat of a surprise this season. He was traded midseason in the deal that brought Todd Frazier and Robertson to New York from the Chicago White Sox. The 28-year-old has had a high strikeout rate for the majority of his short career, striking out 96 batters in 62.2 innings in 2017.

So far in the postseason Kahnle has been almost untouchable. He’s yet to allow a run in 10 innings of work, while striking out nine and allowing just two hits and two walks.

With those two rested and Robertson untaxed (physically, at least) from the Friday night’s game, the Astros offense will have to get to the Yankees early.

That won’t be so easy with Cy Young Award winner and six-time All-Star CC Sabathia on the the mound for the Yankees, facing off against the Astros’ Charlie Morton.

Morton and Sabathia actually had fairly similar regular season numbers but Sabathia has an incredible amount of postseason experience.

Having spent most of his career with the Yankees, Sabathia was named MVP of the 2009 ALCS and owns a World Series ring.

The 37-year-old has been great so far this postseason allowing 11 hits, four earned runs, seven walks and striking out 19 batters over three starts and 15.2 total innings.

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The 33-year-old Morton on the other hand, has started a total of three postseason games in his career.

In his first ALCS start against the Yankees he allowed seven earned runs over just 3.2 innings.

However, given the similarities in the two starters’ regular season numbers, if Morton can pitch with the same mindset as the experienced Sabathia he may be able to hold off the Yankees early to give the Astros offense a chance.

Let’s be honest, the Astros offense during this series has been awful.

The team cannot rely solely upon Altuve and his .405/.500/.720 batting line to win a game against this new, young group of powerful Yankees.

Alex Bregman, Marwin Gonzalez, Josh Reddick and Brian McCann are all hitting under .200 in the postseason and are not even close to how they each hit during the regular season.

McCann and Bregman each stepped it up yesterday, however, the biggest problem lies with the right fielder Reddick.

Reddick is in an astonishing 0-21 hitless streak. That’s incredibly disturbing considering he hit .314/.363/.484 with 13 home runs, 82 RBI, 34 doubles and four triples during the regular season. It was a career year for the 30-year-old right fielder.

Reddick needs to come through in the clutch as he has in the past, the way he did against Boston Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel in the ALDS.

Still, the pressure isn’t all on Reddick, it’s on the entire Astros lineup that has been hitting under .200 in the ALCS against the Yankees. They had one of, if not the, strongest offenses during the regular season.

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It’s also on Charlie Morton to hold the powerful Yankees lineup at bay so that the Houston Astros can score early and often before they get to pitchers named Robertson, Kahnle and Chapman.