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Astros Play the Long Game, and So Far It’s Working

Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Let me freely confess bias. I adore watching a dominant ace, one of those pitchers who in the flower of his power and guile imposes his will on a powerful adversary.

So I sat to watch the Astros' ace of aces, Gerrit Cole, take on the Yankees, and their fearsome, stuffed-to-the-gills power lineup on Tuesday in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. And for an inning it appeared Cole’s day would end early.

D.J. LeMahieu led off the first inning by whacking a 99-mile-per-hour pitch to center. A cue shot of a single followed.