Since the American League Championship Series moved to a best-of-seven format in 1985, 22 of the 37 teams that won Game 1 have ultimately won the series, 59.5% of the time.
However, despite his team’s shutout defeat yesterday (Sunday) against the Texas Rangers, this statistic in no way shakes Justin Verlander’s confidence in his team and its ability to recover.
We lost game one of the World Series last year. We’ve lost game one of a playoff series before. And that’s the good thing about this team. Obviously, no one is sitting in the locker room and happy right now. We have just been dealt a blow, it remains to be seen how we respond.
We can understand the veteran having confidence in his teammates, who have more often than not faced adversity like this in the past.
However, we feel that 2023 could prove more complex than in recent seasons. And Verlander got a glimpse of it last night.
Indeed, despite a great performance of six innings and two thirds of work and two points allowed, it was not easy for the 40-year-old man.
The problem that presents itself is that a lineup like that is so deep that you can’t focus on a few hitters and say if we don’t let them beat us, we’ll be in a car. Every one of their guys has the opportunity to beat us. We have to be at our best from 1 to 9.
It will now be up to Framber Valdez to be at his best this afternoon, as he faces Nathan Eovaldi in a game of capital importance for the Astros, who will not want to travel to Globe Life Field pulling trailing by two games.
