It’s the American League Championship Series, which means the Houston Astros are playing. The Astros — through all the self-inflicted turmoil in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal — have reached the ALCS for the sixth straight season. For the third time in that run, they’re matching up with the New York Yankees. The first two times, Houston prevailed — much to the chagrin of Yankees fans.
They will enter the series favored to do it again. The Astros are the top seed and will have home-field advantage, starting with Game 1 Wednesday night. They have the deeper pitching staff, and fewer question marks entering the series. Overall, the Yankees boasted a better offense in 2022, but it came with serious peaks and valleys. Aaron Judge was the constant in his history-making 62-homer season.
He will lead the charge against Astros ace Justin Verlander — coming off his own eye-popping season — in Game 1. Verlander battled through a subpar start against the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS, and has now had plenty of time to work through the mechanical issues that apparently plagued him that day. Jameson Taillon will start for the Yankees after they used top starters Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes Jr. in the final two ALDS games against Cleveland.
In the Astros lineup, the biggest threat is Yordan Alvarez. His thunderous performance in the ALDS included two massive game-winning homers.
One thing to watch will be the Yankees’ injury-altered roster. Outfielder Aaron Hicks is out after injuring his knee in ALDS Game 5. Rookie shortstop Oswald Peraza is in. Also in: Trade deadline acquisition Frankie Montas, who has struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness since joining New York in August.
The game starts at 7:37 p.m. ET on TBS. Follow live on Yahoo Sports.
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