HOUSTON — Aaron Judge took off like a sprinter out of the blocks, and yet he had a dozen reasons to pull up, play it safe, and chase the ball to the wall. He had to be physically and emotionally spent after the big party in The Bronx, and after the late-night flight that got him to his hotel room around 2 a.m. Houston time, 3 a.m. Eastern.

Judge had homered in the Game 5 victory over Cleveland. He had splashed around in the champagne bath in the clubhouse. He had granted a couple of group interviews, and checked with a few familiar writers to see if they needed a few more minutes of his time.

And then the slugger showered, hopped on the team bus to Newark Airport, and boarded the team plane bound for Texas and another playoff round that promised to be much more stressful than the one that preceded it — at the tail end of a historic six-month run that was more stressful than any ballplayer not named Roger Maris could’ve fathomed.

So surely Judge arrived at Minute Maid Park needing a day off, needing a blow, just like the rest of the Yankees did. Storm patterns and TV schedules conspired to make their Division Series run longer than the French Revolution, so they had to open the ALCS and face the team that’s owned them in October, the Astros, without getting a chance to catch their collective breath.

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HOUSTON — There are no more dual-purpose trash cans around here. No banging, either, except for the unmistakable sound of bat meeting ball.

These 2022 Astros can hit, they can pitch, and they can play. And to be fair, they are no more than distant cousins to the famous/infamous (depending on your point of view) World Series champion 2017 Astros club best known for signaling pitches via trash can cacophony.

One result of that regrettable episode is that fans here have unusual trouble telling heroes from the villains. They loudly boo Aaron Judge, the newly crowned all-time AL home run champ and great all-around guy who has no known association with garbage.

One particular orange-clad fellow here was seen screaming at the press box both pregame and postgame, and while generally incoherent, the message seemed to be: lay off our Astros you mean New York press corps.

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Aaron Judge's diving catch was a show-stealer in the first inning in Houston.

Judge went fully horizontal to snare Alex Bregman's liner, save a run early on.

The slugger credited center fielder Harrison Bader.

"Just trying to do my job there… off the bat, I thought I had a good jump," Judge said. "Kinda lost it in the lights for a second. I knew I had Bader behind me so if I dive and miss it, here's right there to pick me up. Just having the confidence that I have Harrison behind me kinda gave me the freedom to go try and make a play."

Matt Carpenter isn't offering any excuses for his ALCS opener.

The Yankees designated hitter struck out four times on Wednesday, his first appearance since Aug. 8, when he fouled a ball off his left foot in a game in Seattle.

He credited Astros starter Justin Verlander, who allowed just one run over six innings in Game 1 to go with 11 strikeouts on the evening.

"He made some pitches, honestly the way he threw the ball tonight, I could have played the last two months and it would've been a tough day," Carpenter said. "He threw the ball really well, you gotta give him some credit."

Carpenter saved his harshest criticism for himself.

"The one I'm most upset about was the last pitch," he said, "the last pitch I felt I could have some something with. Overall they pitched good stuff, they threw the ball really well."

HOUSTON — This was the steal game.

The Astros rolled out one substantial advantage from lots of rest to home field to having the likely AL Cy Young winner in Justin Verlander making his 32nd postseason start against Jameson Taillon — a No. 4 starter making his playoff starting debut.

And as lopsided as it all sounds, the Yankees had a chance to steal this game and all the positive implications that would have gone along with taking the opener of this AL Championship Series. But that didn’t happen.

Because after asking so much of his main relievers to win a Division Series in five games over Cleveland, Aaron Boone decided to holster them and live with the consequences. He needed Clarke Schmidt and Frankie Montas to come up big. They did not.

And the Yankees lost because an offense that over the first three innings built Verlander’s pitch count and put runners in scoring position, could never deliver a meaningful hit beyond a solo homer from Babe Bader. Sitting at Nos. 5-6 in the order Josh Donaldson and Matt Carpenter were particularly destructive, striking out in seven of their eight plate appearances.

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Aaron Boone is still waiting for the right time to get Domingo German into a game for the first time is since the end of the regular season.

The Yankees -15 strikeout differential (17 to 2) is the largest in a game in postseason history.

Matt Carpenter struck out a game-high four times on the night, followed by Josh Donaldson's total of three. Gleyber Torres, Harrison Bader, Isaih Kiner-Falefa and Jose Trevino were felled by the K twice, with Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo adding one apiece.

Manager Aaron Boone tried to find the positives following Carpenter's Wednesday full of whiffs.

"Tough matchup, right? Obviously Verlander is actually tougher on lefties… It was a tough draw," Boone said. "Hopefully valuable for him to just get some regular at-bats over the course of a regular game that serves him and us well moving forward. We know what he can provide for us off the bench or when there are those DH starts for us. Hopefully a tough night is something that can benefit us moving forward."

Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez tallied the only strikeouts by Houston hitters on the night.

Houston's rookie shortstop had himself a night to open the ALCS, smacking a pair of double to go with his seventh-inning homer.

The 25-year-old told the Fox broadcast after the game that he's enjoying the moment.

"The environment, the fans, the crowd," he said. "It's fun."

Pena, who threw up a heart with his hands as he rounded the bases to celebrate his dinger, said the gesture was for his mom. It would seem the rising star is all about respecting his elders, as he explained how it feels to be the No. 2 batter in Dusty Baker's lineup.

"Dusty has given the players confidence all year," he said. "He trusted me to get the job done in the second hold -- you couldn't ask for more from a manager."

Astros closer Ryan Pressly sent the Yankees down in order in the top of the ninth to record a four-out save -- and give the Astros a 4-2 win in Game 1.

Pressly racked up three strikeouts in the four-out outing, adding to Houston's total of 17 -- 11 from Justin Verlander who picked up his first playoff win since 2019..

Anthony Rizzo gave the Yankees some life in the top of the eighth, sending a Rafael Montero's four-seam fastball to deep left for a 386-foot solo shot.

The homer, the ninth of Rizzo's playoff career, pulled the Yankees to within two and time running out in Game 1.

It also snapped the Astros' streak of 16 straight Yankees batters retired.

Frankie Montas is in the game, out of the bullpen.

The prized trade deadline acquisition struggled during the Yankees' stretch run, and it did not get much better in the bottom of the seventh.

Jeremy Pena went deep off Montas for his third hit of the night, a 386 moonshot that upped the Astros lead to 4-1.