HOUSTON — While the Houston Astros are down 0-1 in their playoff series against in-state rivals, the Texas Rangers, as they vie for a spot in the World Series, there is no reason to panic.
“We lost Game 1 in the World Series last year,” Astros pitcher Justin Verlander said in an interview following Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. “We’ve lost game 1 of some playoff series before. And that’s the great thing about this team. Obviously, nobody is sitting in the locker room right now happy. But it’s very matter-of-fact, OK. We just got punched, how do you answer?”
Verlander allowed two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings to mark the first time this postseason that both starters pitched into the seventh. It was the 36th postseason start for Verlander and the MLB-record 14th time he’s started a playoff series opener.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner threw 47 fastballs, getting 27 swings without a single swing and miss.
Verlander is right about the Astros having experience being in these kinds of situations.
Have the Astros won a playoff series after losing Game 1?
As he mentioned in his post-game 1 interview, the Astros lost a game of the 2022 World Series to Philadelphia. Not only did they bounce back to win game 2, but as many know, they went on to win the series, 4-2, for their second World Series title in the past seven years.
Not including the current 2023 American League Championship Series against the Rangers, of the 18 previous playoff series that the Astros have played in during their historic run the past seven seasons, they only lost game 1 of a series six times.
Of those six series, the Astros went on to win four game 2s. And of those four, the Astros went on to take the series. This includes the previously mentioned 2022 World Series as well as the 2017 World Series.
In two of the series in which the Astros lost game 2 as well, they both went the distance to a game 7. That was in the 2020 ALCS against Tampa Bay and the 2019 World Series against Washington.
So while the Rangers are off to a good start by picking up a game 1 win on the road, history suggests this series has a long way to go.