HOUSTON — The Astros have known they would play the Chicago White Sox in the American League Division Series for quite some time, and now they know where and when.
“It’s great for us,” manager Dusty Baker said. “It feels great for our team, feels great for the city. This is what you play for and what you want. We’ve still got another game to go [Sunday against the A’s], and we’re going to try to win that game, too, and finish strong and get some momentum going into the playoffs.”
The Astros, who will host Game 1 of the best-of-five ALDS on Thursday at Minute Maid Park, will finish with the second-best record in the AL behind the AL East champion Rays. Here’s how the ALDS schedule lines up (game times TBA):
Game 1: Thursday, Oct. 7 at Minute Maid Park
Game 2: Friday, Oct. 8 at Minute Maid Park
Game 3: Sunday, Oct. 10 at Guaranteed Rate Field
Game 4 (if necessary): Monday, Oct. 11 at Guaranteed Rate Field
Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, Oct. 13 at Minute Maid Park
Alvarez got the Astros off and running with a three-run homer in the first inning, and Castro (second) and Gurriel (third) hit solo shots. Tucker, who robbed Tony Kemp of a game-tying, three-run homer with a catch at the right-field wall in the sixth, slugged a two-run homer in the seventh — his 29th of the year.
Baker said he’s relieved to see his offense start to click. They’ve scored 16 runs the last two games after scoring 15 runs in the seven games prior to that.
“We’ve got some guys swinging the bat pretty good,” he said. “We’ve got some guys that are hurting a little bit. I’m sure everybody this time of year has guys who are hurting. We’ve got to bandage them up, heal our wounds and hopefully, we’ll be strong and healthy when the series starts.”
Odorizzi anticipates bullpen assignment in playoffs
Astros starter Jake Odorizzi, who allowed three runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings on Saturday, finished his regular season with a 6-7 record, 4.21 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 24 games (23 starts). Odorizzi didn’t sign with the Astros until March, and he made three starts (10.13 ERA) to start the season before going on the IL on April 26 for a month with a right pronator strain.
Odorizzi appeared in 21 games (20 starts) since coming back and went 6-5 with a 3.84 ERA, missing a few starts in September with a sore foot. He didn’t pitch more than five innings in his final six starts, which was a point of contention for him at one point.
“Realistically, looking at it from a whole work standpoint, those first [three] starts, take them away and I think it was a pretty good body of work,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect coming into the year from a workload standpoint with a late start and everything. … I’m happy with it overall and the adjustments I was able to make.”
Now, it appears Odorizzi’s likeliest role in the postseason will be in long relief. He and veteran right-hander Zack Greinke could both serve as long relievers and perhaps piggyback a starter. The Astros did that with Charlie Morton and Lance McCullers Jr. in 2017 en route to a World Series title.
“It’s whatever I can do to contribute in any fashion,” he said. “I know the history that the Astros starters have been used pretty frequently in the playoffs and to pretty good results, so I’m open to doing what I need to do to help us win a championship.”
Gurriel, Brantley chase batting titles on final day
Gurriel and Michael Brantley will enter the final day of the regular season ranked first and second in the AL in batting average. Gurriel (.318) leads Brantley (.313) by five points and Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.311) by seven points.
That being said, Baker didn’t commit to whether Gurriel or Brantley would be in the lineup for the Astros on Sunday in a game that has no effect on their playoff seeding. The only Astros player to win a batting title is Jose Altuve, who did it three times (2014, ’16-17).
Gurriel won a batting title in his final year with La Habana in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, hitting .500 (87-for-174). He said he came close a few other times in Cuba, mostly while playing 12 seasons for Sancti Spiritus (2001-12). Gurriel’s resurgence comes after he hit just .232 in last year’s shortened season.
