NEW YORK _ Maybe the Astros would've been better off saving Dallas Keuchel for Game 6, pushing Justin Verlander to Game 7 and been honest about the three AL Championship Series games in the Bronx this week: They weren't going to win them. Not a single one.
The Yankees were too good, and more significantly, the crowd was too tough. The Astros might've won 101 games this season, but they were clearly unprepared for the raging masses that intimidated them in Games 3 and 4 and once again in Game 5, as the Yankees took a 3-2 lead in this gripping ALCS.
The 5-0 victory behind Masahiro Tanaka was practically over before it started. Keuchel, who has historically owned the Bombers, was knocked out in the fifth inning, never coming close to his Game 1 brilliance.
Instead, the left-hander was charged with four runs in 42/3 innings, and although he struck out eight, the Yankees had much better at-bats throughout and otherwise seemed better prepared for his sliders and cut fastballs.
So the unthinkable has happened to the Astros: they've lost control of the Series and will be fighting for their lives Friday night. The Yankees? They're on one long magic carpet ride. Nothing can stop them now, it seems.
