Texas Rangers Do Just Enough to Thwart 'Erratic' Justin Verlander, Houston Astros in ALCS Opener

The Texas Rangers knew Justin Verlander would be tough in Game 1, but they did just enough to slide past the future Hall-of-Famer and the Houston Astros.

Justin Verlander is one of the most experienced postseason pitchers in baseball history. So, starting the ace in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Texas Rangers on Sunday was an easy call for Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker.

The Rangers knew they would get a tough performance from Verlander, who went 6 2/3 innings and gave up six hits and two runs.

But, for the Rangers, who won the opener 2-0 behind starter Jordan Montgomery, it was just enough to upend the future Hall-of-Famer and defending World Series champions.

"We just found a way to get a couple of runs across the board," Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. "That was the difference in the game, obviously. But our guy was really good, Monty, terrific job he did."

Leody Taveras homered off Justin Verlander to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead in the fifth / © Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Verlander had a week between starts and there wasn’t much rust to be found after a 1-2-3 first innings But, as the game continued, it was clear that Verlander was having trouble getting Rangers hitters to swing-and-miss at anything, must less strike them out.

"I was a bit erratic the first couple of innings, especially fastball control," Verlander said. "I thought it cleaned up as the game went along. I kind of started finding my groove there the last few innings. Obviously one bad pitch, it resulted in another run to [Leody Taveras] there. Overall I thought as the game went along, it got better and better."

The patience was clear in the second inning when Taveras, the Rangers’ No. 9 hitter, took three inside curveballs with solid action and a four-seamer that just missed inside for a walk that, at the time, loaded the bases for the top of the order.

The Rangers had already done some damage at that point. Evan Carter turned a single that glanced off Astros first baseman José Abreu into a double after Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker didn’t immediately fire the ball to the second, as he didn’t expect the Texas rookie to accelerate. That set up Jonah Heim for an RBI single that scored Carter.

Josh Jung singled directly before the Taveras walk, but Marcus Semien wasn’t able to break the game open as he popped out to Astros second baseman Jose Altuve to leave the Rangers with a 1-0 lead.

Verlander then retired seven straight Rangers before Taveras hit his first career postseason home run with a drive to right field in the fifth.

In the seventh, the Rangers finally chased Verlander off after he walked Heim and allowed Taveras to single.

"The problem that presents is that a lineup like that is so deep that you can't focus on a pocket of hitters and say if I don't let them beat me, I'll be good," Verlander said. "Every one of their guys has the opportunity to beat you. You've got to be on your game 1 through 9. And if you're not, they'll make you pay."

It was a quality start for Verlander, but it wasn’t vintage Verlander. That left the door open for the Rangers to steal a game on the road.

The series continues Tuesday afternoon back at Minute Maid Park with Nathan Eovaldi going for Texas and Houston countering with Framber Valdez. Max Scherzer is expected to make his postseason debut Wednesday in Game 3 when the series shifts to Globe Life Field in Arlington.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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