McAdam: ALCS Game 1 offers traditional starting pitching matchup

We live in an era of "openers'' and "bullpenning,'' when relievers pitch as many -- or more -- innings than the starters, especially in the postseason.

The Oakland A's embraced this concept in the American League wild-card game, as have the Milwaukee Brewers, currently four wins away from the World Series.

But when the Red Sox and Houston Astros play Game 1 of the 2018 ALCS, it will be as if the teams are turning back time. The game will pit two of the most successful, dominant and intimidating starters in the game: Chris Sale vs. Justin Verlander.

There will be no talk about having someone pitch just the first inning. There will be no worry about either facing the lineup a third time.

Nope, Sale and Verlander will do it the old-fashioned way: they'll both come out throwing hard and go as long as they can, unbound by trends, or matchups.

Old school, which is fine by Sale.

"I think that's more of a ... I think it's just better for the game,'' he said. "It's kind of one of those things where you have this starter versus this starter against these lineups. Obviously, we both have very good bullpens and big arms on either side. But this is more, I guess, the traditional way to play the game, and the way I like to play the game better anyways."

The Astros are one of the most data-driven, willing-to-experiment teams in the game. But when it comes to their rotation, they take a more traditional approach.

"I love (traditional) starters,'' declared an unapologetic A.J. Hinch last week.

Why?

"Because,'' he said, "I've got good ones.''

Red Sox postseason history is dotted with marquee pitching matchups — including a number of which fizzled and failed to live up to their advance billing. Jim Lonborg vs. Bob Gibson in Game 7 of the 1967 World Series wasn't a fair fight since Lonborg was pitching on two days' rest. Thanks to grueling League Championship Series, Roger Clemens vs. Dwight Gooden, sadly, never faced off in the 1986 World Series. Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS offered Clemens vs. Pedro Martinez, but the former was past his prime and the game got overshadowed by beanballs and an awkward wrestling match between Martinez and Don Zimmer.

That prospect seems less likely here. Verlander, though 35, is considered a co-favorite for the Cy Young Award when balloting is revealed next month. As recently as early August, it was thought that Sale was on track to win his first such award -- before mild left-shoulder inflammation limited his innings over the final seven weeks of the season.

Both Sale and Verlander will be pitching with plenty of rest, thanks to the brief Division Series in which they participated. Verlander's Astros swept Cleveland three games to none, so Verlander will be going on seven days' rest. Sale won't have quite that benefit, since he was air-lifted into the eighth inning of Game 4 Tuesday night in New York and threw 13 pitches in the series-clincher.

But that won't impact Sale Saturday. The 13-pitch relief appearance was tantamount to a brief side session. He's thrown just 106 pitches in the last seven days.

More importantly, Sale faces no restrictions after having his workload restricted as he battled back from his shoulder issue.

"Yeah, no doubt. I think we're at the point now where there's no holding back. There's no limitations,'' said Sale.

"It's all hands on deck. We're here to win. We've got to do whatever it takes to get there. We're at a point now where we can kind of let it go and just get back to pitching. And I think that process, leading up to that was a big part of that. ... I think we had to do what we had to do during the season to get here now. And I'm very thankful for a lot of people for that.''

Verlander, an Aug. 31 acquisition for the Astros a year ago and proved a force in the 2017 postseason, winning his first title last season with Houston. He's overcome the postseason struggles he experienced early in his career with Detroit and is now viewed as the ultimate competitor and reliable big-game pitcher.

Sale, by contrast, may still be smarting from last year's ALDS Game 1 start in Houston when he was jumped for two homers in the first inning and lasted just five innings, allowing seven runs. Sale pitched far better in his Game 1 assignment this year, pitching into the sixth inning against the Yankees and allowing just two runs.

"I think he used (Game 1 last year) as a learning experience,'' said Alex Cora. "You know, it's not like he wants to beat the Astros more than the Yankees or the Royals. With Chris, he'll compete at a high level even throwing bullpen. So he's in a good place. He's ready to go. And I'm glad that he's going to throw Game 1 for us.