BOSTON – In a match between two of the top starters in the American League, Justin Verlander qualified Chris Sale to help the Astros defeat the Boston Red Sox 7-2 in the first game of the ALCS on Saturday.

35-year-old Astros striker Cy Young, who had his 23rd career start and seventh since coming to Houston last year, had trouble in the first heat after Mookie Betts led a simple and took second place on a wild pitch. But after a walk to J.D. Martinez, Verlander prompted a player to play Xander Bogaerts' double play to finish the frame.

Dirty could not match the performance of his counterpart in advance. Atypically wild and without the usual velocity of his fastball in the mid-90s, Sale skirted the track early in the first run, but he found himself stuck in the second by delivering two more free passes and a hit. George Springer's bases doubled the first two races of the night to give Verlander a two-run lead.

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Despite a small number of steps, Verlander almost did not stick to the fifth. After Steve Pearce dominated half of the heat with the Red Sox with a single, Verlander eliminated Brock Holt and then walked with the next three batters from Boston to force him to run. With the bases still loaded, he forced Mookie Betts to move slightly to third base, where Alex Bregman put it clean on the field and threw the ball home. But when it seemed that Verlander could escape with an unbroken lead, he cleared a wild pitch that allowed Jackie Bradley Jr. to score in third place and tie the game.

Verlander hit Andrew Benintendi with a fastball on the outside corner to finish the fifth. Benintendi opposed the call of the main referee, James Hoy, slamming his helmet and hitting the ground at the end of the inning. Boston manager Alex Cora left the canoe to defend his team and was sent off before the start of the sixth.

After Sale made four innings, reliever Joe Kelly took over for the Red Sox. In the sixth, Kelly crushed Alex Bregman with a 1-2 quick ball to give Houston a basic score. An error by Eduardo Nunez, Boston's third player, led Bregman to second place and a bloop from Carlos Correa, later in the inning, led to Bregman with the starting mark.

The Astros added four more points – including three on a three-run circuit by Yuli Gurriel – in the ninth to extend the lead.

turning

Verlander looked to be in the ropes after beating three hitters and giving up the lead in sixth place. The situation was worrying when Benintendi scored a lot with the second and third place finishers and two outings. But Verlander's fastball at 98 mph on the outside corner froze Benintendi to end the only real rally of the Sox night. The Astros would take advantage of the round.

Man of the moment

Springer's single two points not only scored the biggest hit in the game, but he extended his series of playoff strikes to 10, dating back to the second game of last year's World Series. In this sequence, Springer has a .429 batting average with eight homers, 12 RBIs and a .510 based percentage. The reigning MVP of the World Series has only lengthened his impressive resume in the playoffs on Saturday.

State of the Astros

By taking the first game of the series, the Astros erase the home advantage of the Red Sox in the set. They will send Gerrit Cole to the mound for the second game at Fenway Park on Sunday. Cole played in the final game of the second day of the ALDS program against the Cleveland Indians, completing seven dominating rounds to win. The former first choice of the group, aged 28, scored 15-5 with a points average tied at 2.88 and an extraordinary exit rate after joining the Astros in an offseason exchange.

State of the Red Sox

Despite his well-documented struggles for the month of October, David Price will have the ball for Boston on Sunday. Price launched a 1 ⅔ clunker in the only loss to the Red Sox SLD. He is 0-9 with a 6.03 ERA in 10 playoff games. Cora expressed confidence that Price could return to regular form in the regular season in Game 2. Boston will face a tricky situation if it can not: going to the market early Saturday will limit Sox's already thin relief corps on Sunday, so Cora will need both heats and Price's efficiency.