2017 American League Championship Series
Team (Wins) Managers Season Houston Astros (4) A. J. Hinch 101–61 (.623), GA: 21 New York Yankees (3) Joe Girardi 91–71 (.562), GB: 2
Dates	October 13–21
MVP	Justin Verlander (Houston)
Umpires	Mark Carlson (Games 3–7),Gary Cederstrom (crew chief),Chad Fairchild (Games 1–2),Chris Guccione,Jerry Meals,Jim Reynolds,Hunter Wendelstedt
Broadcast
Television	FS1 (Games 1, 3–7) Fox (Game 2)
TV announcers	Joe Buck,John Smoltz,Ken Rosenthal andTom Verducci
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Jon Sciambi andChris Singleton
ALDS	New York Yankees overCleveland Indians (3–2) Houston Astros overBoston Red Sox (3–1)
← 2016 ALCS 2018 →

The2017 American League Championship Series was abest-of-seven playoff inMajor League Baseball's2017 postseason pitting the second-seededHouston Astros against the fourth-seededNew York Yankees for the American League pennant and the right to face theLos Angeles Dodgers in the2017 World Series. The Astros defeated the Yankees in seven games after falling behind three games to two. The home team won every game in the series.^[1] This was the first ALCS since 2010 not to feature an AL Central team.

This was the first time in history that the ALCS andNLCS teams were from the fourmost populous U.S. cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston.^[2]

For the first time,Major League Baseball soldpresenting sponsorships to all of its postseason series; this ALCS was sponsored byCamping World and was officially known as theAmerican League Championship Series presented by Camping World.^[3][4]

The Astros went on to defeat theLos Angeles Dodgers in theWorld Series in seven games, winning their first World Series championship in franchise history.

The Astros defeated theBoston Red Sox 3–1 in the2017 American League Division Series (ALDS).^[5] This is the Astros' fifth appearance in aLeague Championship Series, and their first since transferring from the National League to the American League. Their only previous LCS win came in the2005 National League Championship Series; they lost in1980,1986, and2004. They are also the firstAL West team to make it to the ALCS since 2011.

The Yankees upset the heavily favoredCleveland Indians 3–2 in the ALDS to advance.^[6] This is the Yankees' 16th appearance in the ALCS, and their second as a Wild Card. Their last ALCS appearance came in the2012 American League Championship Series where they got swept by theDetroit Tigers. They had won in 11 of their previous 15 appearances. This is the sixth straight year in which anAL East team has made it to the ALCS.

This was the second postseason match-up between these two teams, with the Astros defeating the Yankees in the2015 American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium. This was also the first ALCS to not feature any American League Central Division teams since2010.

Houston won the series, 4–3.

In a pitcher's duel,Dallas Keuchel andMasahiro Tanaka allowed no runs through the first three innings before the Astros scored in the bottom of the fourth.Jose Altuve hit an infield single and stole second base, beforeCarlos Correa drove him in with an RBI single.Yuli Gurriel drove in Correa to give the Astros a 2–0 lead. Keuchel recorded ten strikeouts, allowing four hits and no runs in seven innings. Tanaka pitched six innings with three strikeouts and allowed two earned runs.Chad Green relieved Tanaka and threw two scoreless innings.Ken Giles was brought in with one out in the eighth for a five-out save. He struck out four of six but allowed a home run toGreg Bird before striking outJacoby Ellsbury swinging to end the game. It was his second save of this postseason.^[14]

Justin Verlander threw acomplete game, allowing one run and five hits while striking out 13.Carlos Correa opened the scoring in the fourth inning with a home run off of starterLuis Severino that barely scraped over the right field wall. It was reviewed for fan interference, as a child reached his glove over the wall in an attempt to catch it.^[15]Todd Frazier answered for the Yankees in the fifth with an RBI ground-rule double that was lodged in the center-field fence after a two-out double byAaron Hicks.^[15] In the bottom of the ninth,Jose Altuve singled with one out off ofAroldis Chapman. Correa hit a walk-off double to right field, asGary Sanchez did not field the ball cleanly at home plate and Altuve scored the winning run, giving the Astros a 2–0 series lead heading to New York.^[16]

In the bottom of the second inning,Todd Frazier opened the scoring with a three-run home run after two two-out singles off ofCharlie Morton. The Yankees piled on five more runs in the fourth inning. After a leadoff ground-rule double and two-out walk,Chase Headley's RBI single made it 4–0 Yankees. A hit-by-pitch toBrett Gardner loaded the bases before Morton was relieved byWill Harris, who threw a wild pitch to let Frazier score before a three-run home run byAaron Judge made it 8–0.^[17]CC Sabathia did not allow a run in six innings pitched, striking out five. In the top of the ninth inning,Dellin Betances entered in relief only to walk the first two batters before getting pulled forTommy Kahnle. A single byCameron Maybin loaded the bases, then one out later, walk toAlex Bregman forced in a run, butJose Altuve hit into the game-ending double play as the Yankees' won Game 3 8–1.^[18]

Game 4 began as a pitcher's duel. The Yankees'Sonny Gray threw five scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while Astros'Lance McCullers Jr. threw six shutout innings with one hit. With the bases loaded in the top of the sixth on two walks and a catcher's interference call,Yuli Gurriel cleared them with a double off ofDavid Robertson to put the Astros up 3–0. The next inning, aStarlin Castro fielding error allowedMarwin González, who doubled, to score, increasing the lead to 4–0. In the bottom of the seventh,Aaron Judge hit a home run, chasing McCullers from the game.Chris Devenski entered in relief only to allow a triple toDidi Gregorius and a sacrifice fly toGary Sánchez, cutting the lead to 4–2. In the bottom of the eighth,Todd Frazier andChase Headley both singled, with the latter tripping on his way to second base and evadingJose Altuve's close tag to remain safe at second. AsKen Giles entered the game, aBrett Gardner groundout made the score 4–3 before Judge doubled into left field, tying the game at 4–4. Gregorius singled and Sánchez doubled in two runs to complete the Yankees comeback, now up 6–4.Aroldis Chapman entered in the top of the ninth inning, pitching a 1-2-3 inning to get his first save of the series and third this postseason as the Yankees rallied to tie the series at two games all.^[19]

In the top of the second inning,Yuli Gurriel hit a leadoff double, but was stranded with three consecutive groundouts. In the bottom half of that inning,Starlin Castro hit a two-out double and was driven in byGreg Bird's single. Next inningChase Headley hit a leadoff single and scored onAaron Judge's one-out double. In the fifth, after a single and walk, back-to-back two-out RBI singles byGary Sanchez andDidi Gregorius made it 4–0 and knock starterDallas Keuchel out of the game.Gary Sánchez provided insurance with a home run in the bottom of the seventh inning off ofBrad Peacock.Masahiro Tanaka pitched seven shutout innings andTommy Kahnle pitched two innings to close. The Yankees were now one win away from the World Series.^[20]

Facing elimination,Justin Verlander threw seven shutout innings for the Astros, striking out eight. The Astros struck first in the bottom of the fifth off ofLuis Severino. After two walks,Brian McCann drove in the first run with a double, then another walk loaded the bases beforeJose Altuve's two-run single put Houston on the board 3–0. In the top of the eighth,Aaron Judge hit a home run to cut the lead to 3–1, but the Astros increased their lead in the bottom of the inning, starting with an Altuve lead off home run off ofDavid Robertson. The solo HR by Judge was the final run the Yankees scored in the series. After a double and single,Alex Bregman's two-run double made it 6–1. One out laterEvan Gattis's sacrifice fly off ofDellin Betances made it 7–1 Astros.Ken Giles pitched a scoreless ninth as the Astros forced the first LCS Game 7 in either league since 2012. This was Houston's third ever win in a game facing elimination in a postseason series and the first since the2015 American League Wild Card Game.^[21]

In the winner-take-all game to decide the AL pennant winner,Aaron Judge made a leaping catch to robYuli Gurriel of a solo homer in the bottom of the second inning.CC Sabathia allowed the first run of the game on a home run toEvan Gattis in the fourth, In the next inning,Tommy Kahnle entered the game in relief for the Yankees, but gave up a home run toJose Altuve to make the lead 2–0. Two singles later, former YankeeBrian McCann lined a double to extend the Astros lead to four. For the Astros,Charlie Morton pitched five innings, allowed one walk and struck out five.Lance McCullers Jr. entered in relief, pitching four scoreless innings to close out the game and earn his first career save. McCullers ended the game throwing 24 straight curveballs; aGreg Bird flyout toGeorge Springer was the final out of the game, sending the Astros to the2017 World Series.^[22]

The Astros advanced to their first World Series in 12 years, becoming the first team to win pennants in both leagues. Houston's victory made this just the fifth best-of-seven series (following the1987,1991, and2001 World Series, and the2004 National League Championship Series which the Astros played in), and the first ALCS, in which the home team won all seven games.^[23]

2017 ALCS(4–3):Houston Astros beatNew York Yankees

After the 2019 season, former Houston Astros pitcherMike Fiers alleged that the 2017 Astros used technology to illicitlysteal their opponents' signs and relay it to their hitters.^[24] MLB opened an investigation into thissign stealing allegation and found the Astros used technology to cheat during their 2017 championship season and parts of 2018, as well. MLB suspendedA.J. Hinch and Astros'general managerJeff Luhnow for one year;^[25] the Astros fired Luhnow and Hinch the same day.Alex Cora, who was the Astros bench coach in 2017 and the Red Sox manager in 2018–2019, was also suspended for the 2020 season, but in a separate investigation of that team, and parted ways with Boston a day after the Astros sanctions were announced.^[26][27]Carlos Beltrán (who had played for the Yankees from 2014 to 2016 before joining Houston) was the only player called out by name for his role in the scandal, who was quoted as saying that they were "behind the times" on signs when joining Houston.^[28] As such, Beltran, who had been hired as Mets manager in the 2019 offseason, came to a mutual agreement with the team to part ways.^[29]

Yankees star playerAaron Judge said that the Astros should be forced to vacate their title and that the players involved should have been punished. On their 2017 World Series championship, he said: "I just don't think it holds any value with me. You cheated and you didn't earn it."^[30] In 2022, Yankees general managerBrian Cashman stated he believed the Yankees would have won it all in 2017, if not for the Astros 'illegal' and 'horrific' sign stealing scandal.^[31] Astros ownerJim Crane responded by calling his comments odd (as the Yankees were found to have done their own scheme in 2015), adding, "There’s the letter, and you were doing it, too. You were there dude. What are you talking about?".^[32]

Game 7 was Joe Girardi's final game as Yankees manager as five days after the game, the Yankees announced he would not return for the 2018 season. He was replaced by former YankeeAaron Boone.^[33] After serving as an analyst forMLB Network for a few years, Girardi served as thePhiladelphia Phillies manager from 2020 until he was fired midseason in 2022.^[34][35]

2017 Astros reserve outfielderCameron Maybin joined the Yankees as a free agent in 2019 and reportedly tipped off Yankees about the Astros' sign-stealing before2019 AL Championship Series rematch between the two teams.^[36] Nevertheless, the Astros proceeded to win their third straight playoff series versus the Yankees when they beat them again in the ALCS in six games. In the series,Jose Altuve became just the fifth player to hit a walk-off pennant-winning homer in the LCS-era (1969–present), which simultaneously sealed the dubious distinction of the 2010s being the first decade of the Yankees not making aWorld Series appearance in a century. In 2021, the Astros won the pennant again after reaching the ALCS for the fifth straight year, becoming just the third team to ever reach the LCS five times in a row; coincidentally, defeating theBoston Red Sox, managed by Cora. The following season, Houston beat New York again in the2022 AL Championship Series, via a four-game sweep. The Astros consecutive ALCS streak ended at seven in2024 when they were defeated by former manager AJ Hinch and theDetroit Tigers in theAL Wild Card Series.

Carlos Beltrán, the only player named in the commissioner's report for his role in the Astros sign-stealing scandal, was hired by the Yankee'sYES Network as a game analyst before the 2022 season. Beltrán again apologized for his role in the scandal during spring training, stating the Astros "crossed the line".^[37]

• 2017 Major League Baseball postseason schedule
• 2017 American League Championship Series at Baseball Reference

• 2017 Major League Baseball season
• Baseball competitions in New York City
• American League Championship Series
• October 2017 sports events in the United States
• 2017 in Houston
• 2017 in sports in New York City
• 2017 in sports in Texas
• Houston Astros postseason
• New York Yankees postseason
• 2010s in the Bronx

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