Astros Belt Four Homers In Win, Brewers Down Rockies

The Houston Astros belted four home runs to back up a strong outing from starting pitcher Justin Verlander Friday as the World Series champions opened the 2018 playoffs with a 7-2 win over the Cleveland Indians.

Los Angeles, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Oct, 2018 ) :The Houston Astros belted four home runs to back up a strong outing from starting pitcher Justin Verlander Friday as the World Series champions opened the 2018 playoffs with a 7-2 win over the Cleveland Indians.

Alex Bregman, George Springer and Jose Altuve all homered off Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber, while Martin Maldonado went deep off reliever Cody Allen as the Astros hit four homers in a post-season game for the seventh time in club history.

They will try to double their lead in the best-of-five American League Division Series when they host game two on Saturday.

In other games Friday, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox renewed their storied rivalry in game one of their AL Division Series in Boston.

It has been 14 years since the Red Sox and Yankees met in the post-season -- and the Red Sox rallied from three games down for a stunning AL Championship Series triumph.

Although the Red Sox convincingly secured their playoff berth with 108 regular-season wins while the Yankees battled through to the division series as a wild card, New York boast wealth of power at the plate and a solid bullpen.

"We don't see ourselves as an underdog," Yankees relief pitcher Dellin Betances said. "Obviously for the past two weeks it's probably the first time we've had our team healthy, fully healthy. So it's fun. We've been playing good baseball, and we will try to continue to do so this series." In National League action, the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies 4-0 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their series.

The Dodgers were hoping to do the same when they hosted the Atlanta Braves for the second straight night in Los Angeles.

The Brewers moved within one game of their first NL Championship Series appearance since 2011 as Jhoulys Chacin, starting on short rest, threw five scoreless innings and the bullpen maintained the shut-out.

Hernan Perez doubled in a run in the fourth inning and Milwaukee added three more runs in the eighth.

In Houston, Verlander and Kluber both held opposing batters without a hit through three innings.

- Bregman breaks through - Bregman broke through against Kluber with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, pouncing on a sinker up the middle. Josh Reddick then hit a single that scored Yuli Gurriel to give the Astros a 2-0 lead.

Springer led off the fifth with another homer, quickly followed by Altuve's blast that made it 4-0 and spelled the end of Kluber's day.

"The MVP hit the first homer and put the team ahead, and Josh Reddick with the big hit and Springer with the big homer and Maldonado," said 2017 AL Most Valuable Player Altuve -- tabbing Bregman as his choice for this year's award.

"Everybody did something to help this team win today."Cleveland clawed back two runs in the sixth, but Maldonado's homer sparked a two-run seventh inning for Houston, who added their seventh run in the eighth on Reddick's single that scored Myles Straw -- who was put in as a pinch runner after Tyler White's double.