Ageless Verlander lifts Houston Astros over New York Yankees in ALCS opener

• Verlander fans 11 to lead Astros over Yankees 4-2 in ALCS
• Gurriel, McCormick, Pena all hit home runs for Houston
• Padres roar back against Phillies in Game 2 of NLCS

Justin Verlander struck out 11 in six strong innings and Yuli Gurriel, Chas McCormick and Jeremy Pena all homered to power the Houston Astros to a 4-2 win over the New York Yankees in their AL Championship Series opener Wednesday night.

The Astros are in their sixth consecutive ALCS, looking to reach the World Series for the fourth time in that span, against a New York team in the LCS for the first time since being eliminated by Houston in 2019.