Houston Astros: Three takeaways from the ALDS game one win

Justin Verlander wins round one of the starting pitching duels

Coming into this series, everyone knew that this was going to be a series full of pitching duels. This series is, without a doubt, showcasing the top two pitching staffs on the AL side of the bracket and probably even the entire playoffs.

This first one, Justin Verlander vs. Corey Kluber, saw two Cy Young winners and candidates for this year face off in an epic matchup. We broke it down earlier this week right here. While having two completely different styles, both guys are nearly always lights out.

There was no telling how this one would go. Historically, the Indians have beat up on Verlander. However, his first time facing them in a Houston Astros uniform went swimmingly. After a slow first inning, Verlander quickly began to turn in a dominant outing.

He had five innings where he dictated the entire game. In the sixth inning, he started to get a little gassed. He finished with seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings while surrendering two hits and two runs. One of those runs was on a Ryan Pressly wild pitch.

The Astros lineup was able to jump on Kluber early and often and chased him in the fifth inning. So, Verlander won matchup number one and if the rest of his rotation mates can follow suit, it’ll be a short series and some rest before the ALCS.

This was exactly how the team wanted the postseason to start for Verlander. Turn in 5+ innings of dominant baseball to set the team up for a win. He got it started on the right foot to prep for what figures to be a long, long playoff run.