Short starts in Game 6 a playoff first since 1999

HOUSTON -- As Yankees manager Aaron Boone fielded questions from the media prior to Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday -- a 6-4 walk-off win that sent the Astros to the World Series -- a big grin emerged on his face when he was asked to imagine two teams deciding to do a bullpen game with so much at stake back when he was growing up.

Boone’s response was simple: “Both teams are doing it because we think it gives us a better chance to win.”

But in that quest came a rare instance that hasn’t happened in the postseason in two decades.

For the first time since Game 4 of the 1999 AL Division Series, neither starting pitcher lasted at least two innings. Yankees starter Chad Green allowed three runs on a Yuli Gurriel homer in just one inning, and Astros opener Brad Peacock gave up one run on two hits through 1 2/3 frames.

• Peacock's playoff feat not done in 95 years

Though Kent Mercker started for the Red Sox and Bartolo Colon was on the mound for the Indians the last time this same scenario occurred on Oct. 10, 1999, the Yankees have been involved in five of the seven total instances when neither starter tossed at least two frames.