Last night was an exciting night in baseball. Game 5 of New York Yankees Vs. Houston Astros took place in #NYC, and the Dodgers tried to close things out against the Cubs in a rambunctious Wrigley field! The Dodgers and Yanks seem to be on a collision course after waiting 36 years to continue their #WorldSeries storied history.
Starting at Yankee Stadium, the Young Yankees entered the game having scratched back with 2 wins in a row to even the series 2 games to 2. I doubt there were any true Yankee fans doubting that the team would also take game 5 at Yankee Stadium, but one had to wonder if these young yanks had it in them to win their third game in a row against another young team in the Houston Astros, who won over 100 games during the regular season, and had originally taken a 2 games to 0 lead in Houston.
Well, the Bronx was in for one exciting night. Masahiro Tanaka, who had already been dominating this post-season, came into Game 5 of the #ALCS with a calmness and coolness that would have made the Dalai Lama proud! Continuing his scoreless inning prowess, he stunned, froze, and swept through the Astros lineup. The young hitters looked like they had just started their first spring training game, and were unable to solve the mastery of Tanaka, who is proving his Yankee Post-Season worthiness up there with the best in Yankee Lore.
Gary Sanchez came alive last night, as well. After Starlin Castro doubled in the second, and Greg Bird followed with a RBI single, Sanchez and Didi Gregorius wrapped back to back RBI singles in the 5th, and then Sanchez hit his 3rd homer of the post-season in the 7th inning, going 2 for 4 on the night, along with Didi's two hits, and Chase Headley's three-hit night. Aaron Judge, leading the team in RBI's this postseason, knocked in his 10th last night.
Joe Girardi and his club had to get through either Dallas Keuchel, knocked out in the 5th last night, or Justin Verlander in their next game in order to have a chance to advance to their 41st franchise World Series. Dallas had previously dominated the Yankees in post-season play going into last night. But, these young Yanks would have none of that, figuring in their minds that Keuchel would be the better bet than the hard to solve Verlander.
Now, I would not count the Houston Astros out by any means. Even as a Yankee fan myself. The Bronx Bombers need to play smart and keep patient at the plate against Verlander in the next game, because the Astros are pretty good at home, as well.
If Yankee bats go silent again, and Verlander can pull out an expected win, then anything can go down in game 7.
However, I will continue to support my prediction that the 2017 NY Yankees are going to be World Series Champs over the Dodgers, after a 36-year gap since their last #WS meeeting.
Don't forget to tune your televisions Friday night to what could be one of the most exciting games this post-season. Let's hope the Dodgers can forget last night's 3-2 loss and take one of the next 3 games to meet the Yanks in Los Angeles.
(Via Youtube - MLG Highlights)
First photo courtesy of:
http://mediadownloads.mlb.com