Astros power up behind JV, grab 1-0 ALDS lead

The Houston Astros officially started their title defense Friday — and it looked mighty familiar.

A strong outing from their ace Justin Verlander. Big homers from throughout Houston’s deep lineup. And another October win.

The Astros started the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Indians with a 7-2 win, powered by homers from Alex Bregman, George Springer, Jose Altuve and Martín Maldonado. They’ll take a 1-0 series lead into Game 2 in Houston, but more importantly, they made a statement: The Astros of 2017 haven’t gone anywhere.

This series figures to be one of the best of the opening round of the postseason, with a litany of great starting pitchers and plenty of home-run hitters. The main crux of the series is which team can execute closest to its potential, and Friday that was certainly the Astros.

Verlander outpitched Corey Kluber, a formidable foe from the Indians and Houston’s four homers was reminiscent of last year’s postseason, when they were attacking opponents from all angles.

The Indians threatened in the sixth, getting two runs on the board, but the Astros countered with another homer and an eighth-inning RBI single from Josh Reddick (his second RBI of the day), while their bullpen finished the day with three scoreless innings.