The Red Sox tonight host the defending World Series champion Houston Astros in Game 1 of their American League Championship Series. Refresh this page for…
The Red Sox tonight host the defending World Series champion Houston Astros in Game 1 of their American League Championship Series. Refresh this page for the latest from Fenway Park.
Details: The game is set to start at 8:09 p.m. TBS will broadcast the contest. Kevin Youkilis will throw out the first pitch.
The weather: Temperatures are forecast to be about 50 degrees when the game starts.
LHP Chris Sale and RHP Justin Verlander are the starters. Peter Abraham wrote about the matchup and how both hurlers intend to stay on the mound as long as they can. “Obviously we both have very good bullpens and big arms on either side. But this is more, I guess, the traditional way to play the game, and the way I like to play the game,’’ Sale said Friday.
RED SOX (108-54 regular season, 3-1 ALDS)
Notable: Mitch Moreland is out of the lineup for the third straight game. Brock Holt is in the lineup, rather than Ian Kinsler. Against Verlander, Holt is 3 of 10 with two RBIs and two walks, and Kinsler is 8 of 43 with two doubles, an RBI, nine strikeouts, and six walks.
ASTROS (103-59 regular season, 3-0 ALDS)
■ Verlander led the Astros in wins (16), strikeouts (290), and innings pitched (214) in the regular season and led starters in ERA (2.52). Against the Sox this season: 0-0 in one start, striking out six and allowing two earned runs on three hits over six innings. ALDS performance: In Game 1, Verlander went 5⅓ innings, striking out seven and walking two of the 20 batters he faced while giving up only two runs on two hits. He threw 102 pitches, 70 for strikes.
■ Sale went 0-1 in one start against the Astros this season. He allowed four runs (one HR) on six hits and struck out six over six innings. Saturday night marks his third postseason start, his second against the Astros. In Game 1 of last year’s ALDS, he went five innings, giving up seven runs (three homers) on nine hits and struck out six over five innings.
■ Other notes: Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi are available out of the bullpen tonight. The Astros won four of seven games against the Sox in the regular season. Here is Abraham’s full game preview.
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