An absurd mistake was made in the postseason. Although they lost the most important game 1, the Houston Astros have plenty to spare. As a team that has made it to the League Championship Series for 7 consecutive years, they were not embarrassed.스포츠토토 

Houston lost 0-2 to the Texas Rangers in the first game of the 2023 Major League Postseason American League Championship Series (ALCS, best-of-seven series) held at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, USA on the 16th (Korean time). . 

Starting pitcher Justin Verlander pitched well in 6⅔ innings, allowing 6 hits (1 home run), 2 walks, striking out 5, and allowing 2 runs, but the batting line did not work out and suffered a defeat. Houston’s batting line was silenced by a great pitch from Texas starter Jordan Montgomery. Center hitter Jordan Alvarez was unable to exert his power, going 0-hit in 4 at-bats, including strikeouts in 3 consecutive at-bats. 

Episode 8 was the most disappointing. After leadoff hitter Jose Altuve got on base with a walk, Alex Bregman hit a big ball in front of the left-center field fence. It was expected to be a long ball because it was so deep, but Texas rookie left fielder Evan Carter made a picturesque super catch in front of the fence. 

With an exit speed of 103.2 miles (166.1 km), the probability of a hit was 65%, but the fly ball was out. Altuve, the first base runner who thought it was a long hit, stepped on second base and aimed for third base, but when the hit was caught, he quickly returned to first base. Texas made a broadcast play, but Altuve reached first base first. 

However, Texas requested a video review of Altuve’s touch to second base. As a result of the video review, it was confirmed that Altuve returned to first base without stepping on second base. As Altuve was out due to Nu’s effort, the situation with no outs on first base quickly turned into a situation with no runners on base and two outs. It was a mistake that poured cold water on the team, and Houston suffered a scoreless loss after all four batters retired with a hit. 

A fatal mistake by veteran Altuve, who played his 97th postseason game. “I thought the ball was over Carter’s head,” Altuve said after the game, according to MLB.com. He didn’t know how to catch it like that. It was a great play. “He tried to return to first base, and it happened,” he said, praising the opponent’s defense. 

Houston wasn’t too upset. Manager Dusty Baker said, “If you’re going to lose anyway, it’s better to lose in the first game than to lose in the middle of the series,” and “Texas starting pitcher Nathan Evoldi in Game 2 tomorrow (17th) is a difficult pitcher to deal with, but we also have a strong pitcher in Framber Valdez. “He was confident of a counterattack.” 

Unfortunately, Verlander, who was the losing pitcher, calmly said, “We lost the first game in last year’s World Series as well.” Houston lost the first game to the Philadelphia Phillies in last year’s World Series, but came out on top with a 4-2 win. 

Houston has advanced to the League Championship Series for the past seven consecutive years since 2017. With this record for the first time in history, the team is showing signs of being a sustainable strong team. Over the past two years, district champion teams have been eliminated early in the division series, but Houston is an exception. They are strong in big games, having won two World Series in 2017 and 2022. The reason why I am not embarrassed even though I lost the first game due to an absurd mistake. 

Meanwhile, the winning probability of the team that won the first game in the best-of-seven series of all-time major league postseasons is as high as 64.4% (121/188). In the current 2-3-2 series, the team that wins the first game away has a lower probability of winning at 55.7% (39/70).