After the Cardinals hung a 10-spot on the Braves in the first inning of NLDS Game 5 on Wednesday, the Astros tried to do the same to the Rays in ALDS Game 5 on Thursday. Facing Tyler Glasnow, who impressively posted a 1.78 ERA across 12 starts during the regular season, the Astros put their first four base runners on base and all four came around to score.
Gerrit Cole had a harmless top of the first inning for the Astros, recording a pair of strikeouts in the process. George Springer led off the bottom half with a line drive single. Michael Brantley followed up with a single of his own, putting runners on the corners with no outs. José Altuve then lined a single to right field, bringing Springer home and keeping runners on the corners. Alex Bregman plated both Brantley and Altuve with a double to right-center. Yordan Álvarez finally made the first out with a grounder that pushed Bregman to third base. Yuli Gurriel made it 4-0, sneaking a ground ball single to left field. Glasnow would finally see his way out of trouble with back-to-back strikeouts of Carlos Correa and Josh Reddick.
The Astros didn’t score 10 runs, but they’ll gladly take four first-inning runs to take a commanding lead in Game 5 of the ALDS. The loser is eliminated; the winner will face the Yankees in the ALCS.
Update: Eric Sogard cut into the lead by swatting Cole’s first pitch of the second inning over the fence in right field for a solo homer, making it 4-1. The Rays ain’t dead yet.