Daily dose of Yordan (ALCS Game 5)

Today's statline: 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBIs, 2 R

​

At bat 1 (Top of second): 1 pitch home run to left, R, RBI

Facing Sale for the second time in the series, Yordan got a juicy first pitch fastball to hit with no one on, and he took full advantage of it, drilling it deep into left field towards the green monster. Unlike his fly ball from last game, which was well hit but was simply an out, Yordan seemed to be a little late on the slightly outside pitch but still managed to strength it out just over the monster for a solo home run to give them the early lead. After hitting Sale early and often in game 1, it's good to see Yordan continue to see his pitches well and target them for loud contact. Maybe this is a sign that Yordan is coming back into form this series.

At bat 2 (Top of fourth): 6 pitch single to left

Again facing Sale, this time with a runner on, Yordan again picked up on Sale's fastball early, and this time decided to be a lot more patient on high fastballs out of the zone. Each of Sale's first four pitches were fastballs high and outside, and with the exception of one that was called a borderline strike, the rest were all outside for balls to work Yordan into a promising 3-1 count. After Sale threw a slider right down the middle that Yordan took for a strike on for the first offspeed pitch thrown to him all game, Yordan again got a good swing off on a Sale fastball and drilled it into left center field for an easy single that pushed Bregman to third. Again, a nice job by him to seek out hittable Sale fastballs and working into good counts. Despite the good effort, the Astros would not score in the inning, as both Correa and Tucker struck out to end the inning to keep it a 1 run game. It does seem like Yordan is seeing Sale extremely well though, so hopefully he gets another chance to do damage later on.

At bat 3 (Top of sixth): 1 pitch double to left, 2 RBIs, R

As expected Yordan got another chance to face Sale, this time with two runners on as a result of an error and a double. Before the series began, I highlighted just how important Yordan had to be on early Sale fastballs, and he once again proved me right, aggressively slashing at yet another fastball middle middle and rifling it down the left field line for a stand up 2 RBI double that scored both Altuve and Brantley. A huge hit in a crucial moment, as this was key in forcing Sale out of the game and blowing the game wide open against the dogshit Red Sox bullpen. Very dumb idea of Cora to not intentionally walk Yordan, who has been killing Sale all series, with a base open, but his loss is Yordan and the Astros' gain.

At bat 4 (Top of seventh): 6 pitch strikeout swinging

Having blown the game out of reach the inning prior, Yordan came up in a relatively low leverage situation (no one on, two outs) to face Hansel Robles. Yordan initially looked quite good, taking two high breaking but way outside sliders for balls and taking two high fastballs for a strike and a ball to work into a 3-1 count. However, Robles managed to work back, first getting Yordan to foul off a low fastball and then coaxing him into a take on a borderline fastball high and inside. A substandard outcome, but at this point with the night he had so far anything more he does is gravy.

At bat 5 (Top of ninth): 1 pitch groundout to pitcher

Yordan came up in what was effectively an encore performance here, as with a 6 run lead and 3 outs to go he was trotted out there essentially to let Red Sox fans boo him in spite one more time. Facing Martin Perez and his unintimidating fastball, Yordan swung away on the first pitch and hit a hard bouncer, but unfortunately the pitcher managed to get a glove on it and threw it to first for the routine out that advanced the runners over to second and third. This would end up being important later on, as the open base led to a Correa intentional walk, which led to a Gurriel RBI single that scored even more runs. Yordan contributing in subtle ways without getting a hit 😤).

​

Overall just a fantastic game for Yordan, given the situation the Astros were in this might be the best game of the season for him. He was doing a great job recognizing and executing on Sale's fastballs, and as seen in the at bats Sale just threw it again and again for some reason. He's really come alive in the last 2 games after starting the series off disappointingly, hopefully next game he performs well again and wins his first ALCS MVP to close out what has been a fantastic series and season. I'll see you then.