Astros Find Themselves in Shocking Situation During ALCS
The Houston Astros have been on the American League Championship Series stage before, while the Texas Rangers haven't in a while.
Yet, through two games, it's looked like the Rangers are familiar with this pressure and the Astros are new to it.
In Game 1, Texas' starter Jordan Montgomery outdueled Justin Verlander to take a 1-0 series lead.
Houston was looking for a bounce back with Framber Valdez on the mound in Game 2.
Those hopes quickly went away when the Rangers scored four runs in the first inning to set their playoff franchise record for most runs scored in the opening frame.
The Astros tried to climb back into the game and made a late charge, before ultimately falling 5-4.
They now trailing the series two games to none.
Early inning issues plagued Valdez once again, who does not look like the same pitcher who was in the AL Cy Young conversation during the first half of the season.
The left hander is now 0-2 with an ERA of 11.57 across his lone two starts. He's only been able to log seven innings pitched after getting pulled in the third inning on Monday.
Other issues hurt Houston again.
Despite the four runs on the board, they also scored zero runs with the bases loaded in the fifth inning when there were no outs.
They have not been able to string together at-bats during the first two games and have struck out 17 times.
Regardless of the confidence that the Astros have in themselves and the pedigree that they possess in the postseason, going on the road down 2-0 spells disaster more often than not.
