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2017 American League Division Series
Houston Astros (1-0) vs. Boston Red Sox (0-1), Oct. 6, 2017, 1:05 p.m. CDT
Location: Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas
TV: FS1
Radio: stream on MLB At Bat app, 790 KBME AM, ESPN Deportes 1230
Online: MLB.TV, Watch MLB Network
Red Sox SBNation Blog: Over the Monster
Pitching Matchup
LHP Dallas Keuchel (14-5, 2.90 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, .256 BABIP, 3.32 xFIP) vs. LHP Drew Pomeranz (17-6, 3.32 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, .310 BABIP, 4.15 xFIP)
Preview
Could game one have gone any better for the Astros? Probably not. Jose Altuve was done right unhuman. Justin Verlander did enough. Now Dallas Keuchel can get Houston a 2-0 lead with a win on Friday.
Pitching matchup
The 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel takes the ball in game two for Houston. An idea that would have been crazy at the start of the 2017 season and before Justin Verlander joined the team. But Houston now has two ace-level pitchers on the staff.
Keuchel enters his first playoff start on a strong note in September. He was 3-2 with a 2.87 ERA in five starts. He struck out 28 and walked 12 over 31 1⁄3 innings.
Keuchel is 0-1 with a 9.88 ERA in three career games (two starts) against the Red Sox. He hasn’t faced Boston in 2017 and allowed eight runs over six innings in one start in 2016.
Keuchel is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA in three career games (two starts) in the playoffs.
Drew Pomeranz enters his playoff starts with a 3-2 record and 3.69 ERA in six starts during September. He allowed one run over six innings in his final start of the 2017, on Sept. 30 against the Astros.
Pomeranz is 2-2 with a 3.69 ERA in 12 career games (seven starts) against the Astros. He is 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA in two starts against Houston in 2017.
Hitting trends
Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts each have a home run off the Astros left-hander. Mitch Moreland has struggled with the lefty-on-lefty matchup, batting .077 against Keuchel.
Red Sox career stats against Keuchel
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Chris Young | 23 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0.304 | 0.333 | 0.478 | 0.812 |
| Jackie Bradley Jr. | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.667 |
| Brock Holt | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.400 | 0.400 | 0.400 | 0.800 |
| Dustin Pedroia | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.286 | 0.375 | 0.286 | 0.661 |
| Hanley Ramirez | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.500 | 2.500 |
| Christian Vazquez | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.400 | 0.500 | 0.400 | 0.900 |
| Mookie Betts | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 1.000 | 1.250 |
| Xander Bogaerts | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.143 | 0.143 | 0.571 | 0.714 |
| Mitch Moreland | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.077 | 0.143 | 0.154 | 0.297 |
| Rajai Davis | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Eduardo Nunez | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.500 | 0.000 | 0.500 |
Brian McCann is the only Astro with a home run off Pomeranz, but his batting .182 against the left-hander.
Astros career stats vs. Pomeranz
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Jose Altuve | 17 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.412 | 0.474 | 0.471 | 0.944 |
| Carlos Correa | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.600 | 0.600 | 0.600 | 1.200 |
| Carlos Beltran | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.182 | 0.182 | 0.273 | 0.455 |
| Cameron Maybin | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.333 | 0.429 | 0.500 | 0.929 |
| Brian McCann | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.182 | 0.182 | 0.455 | 0.636 |
| Derek Fisher | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.500 |
| Evan Gattis | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0.077 | 0.071 | 0.077 | 0.148 |
| Marwin Gonzalez | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.200 | 0.200 | 0.400 | 0.600 |
| George Springer | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 0.125 | 0.563 | 0.125 | 0.688 |
| Preston Tucker | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 1.000 |
| Alex Bregman | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Yuli Gurriel | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.250 | 0.000 | 0.250 |
Keys to success
Jose Altuve
What more can Jose Altuve do? He hit three home runs in game one. But Altuve has the strongest track record against Pomeranz of any Astro hitter. He is batting .412 (7x17) with a double and a walk.
Chris Young
Chris Young was added to the Red Sox ALDS roster on Thursday. The Houston native is by far and away the best hitter against Dallas Keuchel. He is 7-for-23 with two doubles, one triple, and three RBIs.
Dallas Keuchel
Keuchel can use the Red Sox desperation against them with his world-class offspeed pitches. A seven-plus inning outing for Keuchel will go a long way into securing a series victory for the Astros.