Houston leads series, 1-0

The Houston Astros turn to Justin Verlander on Saturday afternoon in Game 2 of their American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees at Minute Maid Park in Houston (1 p.m. ET, Fox).

Verlander has been magnificent since he was acquired by Houston Aug. 31, going 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA in his five starts in September for the Astros, with 43 strikeouts and five walks in 34 innings. So far in October the veteran right-hander is 2-0 with a 3.12 ERA, earning wins both as a starter and in relief in the American League Division Series.

The 34-year-old doesn’t care when he takes the mound. He just wants the ball.

“I want to go as deep as possible. Every time I take the mound I have the mentality of trying to go nine,” Verlander said Friday. “But, hey, I know the playoffs are different.

“It’s kind of a dying breed that the postseason starter going nine innings, especially with the chance of coming back on short rest. I think that’s what’s being protected. But that’s what I want to do, that’s my mentality, and I go out there until the manager takes the ball out of my hand, and sometimes I don’t like it but that’s why [A.J. Hinch is] the manager.”

Luis Severino gets the ball for the Yankees. He rebounded from his disastrous start in the American League Wild Card Game — one out recorded, three runs allowed — to pitch seven strong innings to win Game 4 of the NLDS against the Cleveland Indians.

ALCS Game 2 time, TV and streaming info

• Teams: Yankees (91-71) at Astros (101-61)
• Series: Houston leads, 1-0
• Time: 1 p.m. ET
• First pitch: 1:08 p.m.
• Location: Minute Maid Park, Houston
• TV: Fox
• Streaming: Fox Sports Go
• Announcers: Joe Buck, John Smoltz, Tom Verducci, Ken Rosenthal

Astros vs. Yankees news & notes

Even before his seven shutout innings in Game 1, Dallas Keuchel had an impressive playoff resume. Ryan Dunsmore of Crawfish Boxes has more:

The Astros lefty is 4-2 with a 1.41 ERA in six career starts against New York, including six scoreless inning in a 2017 win.

As a starter in the playoffs, Keuchel has allowed two earned runs over 18 2⁄3 innings. That includes a masterful 2015 Wild Card Game against these Yankees, in which he pitched six scoreless innings.

Not to forget, the dominance that Keuchel has shown at home throughout his career. In 81 games (75 starts) at Minute Maid Park, Keuchel is 36-21 with a 2.94 ERA. In 2017 alone, he is 6-3 with a 2.26 ERA in 11 starts at the Juice Box.

Aaron Judge was 1-for-3 with a walk in Game 1, but is just 4-for-27 (>) this postseason, with 17 strikeouts. But Yankees manager Joe Girardi has no plans to drop Judge from the No. 2 spot in the batting order, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com:

Girardi said that although Judge struck out a lot -- in fact, he set a Major League record for a single postseason series -- some of the K’s were on borderline pitches and after long at-bats against an excellent Cleveland staff.

“I don’t want to lose sight that he’s got four RBIs in six games, either, in the playoffs,” Girardi said. “We faced a really good pitching team, and we’re facing another one. But no, I never talked about moving him down.”