Houston Astros wins the first game of ALDS

New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge, having hit 62 home runs in a season, the best in the American League of Major League Baseball, played the first post-season match. However, it was Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros whose home run mesmerized the spectators.

With the Astros facing a 7-5 deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1 against Seattle Mariners, which took place at Minute Maid Park, Alvarez hit a 3-run walk-off home run with runners on the first and second and two outs.

MLB.com reported that the Mariners’ win probability was 91 percent before Alvarez hit the home run. That figure went to zero with Alvarez’s one swing. Never in the history of the MLB playoff has there been a play that upended the odds of victory.

The Yankees won the first game of their ALDS matchup with the Cleveland Guardians in a 4-1 come-from-behind victory at the Yankees Stadium. However, Judge had no hit and only walked once, with three strikeouts. Instead, Harrison Bader and Anthony Rizzo homered, and the Yankees won the AL Division Series for the first time in two years.

In the National League, Bryce Harper, a Philadelphia slugger, had a first sacrifice bunt in 381 days as part of a team play, which led to a 7-6 win against the defending champion Atlanta Braves.

Kim Ha-seong, the only South Korean major league player whose team went to the playoff, got one hit and one run out of four batting attempts in Game 1 with the Los Angeles Dodgers but could not stop his team from losing 3-5.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com