Houston Astros take Game 1 of ALDS fueled by Verlander, Altuve

The New York Yankees could pursue Gerrit Cole this offseason.

Sep 18, 2019; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) reacts after getting a strikeout during the second inning against the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros opened up their postseason campaign with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Fueled by a dominant outing from Justin Verlander, Altuve led the Astros with a home run off Trevor Glasnow in the fifth inning.

“I love the way he pitches every single day,” said Altuve on Verlander’s performance. “For me, he’s one of the greatest of all time and a Hall of Famer for me.”

Jose Altuve opens the scoring in Houston! ?

(?: @MLB)
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— theScore (@theScore) October 4, 2019

Other then Altuve’s home run, the Astros scored on a fielding error by Brandon Lowe in the fifth, and in the seventh Yordan Ãlvarez doubled knocking in Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel knocked in Alvarez.

In seven full innings pitched, Verlander only allowed one hit while fanning eight. The two runs the Rays scored came in the top of the eighth inning off Ryan Pressly. Eric Sogard singled knocking in Joey Wendle and Austin Meadows doubled to deep-center knocking in Eric Sogard.

Game two will be played Saturday at 9:07PM in Houston. Gerrit Cole is on the mound for the Astros while the Rays are pitching left-handerÂ Blake Snell.