It's the same story: Despite Minute Maid Park being a hitter's park, the Yankees just can't hit there. It's the opposite of Citi Field, where everyone but the Yankees complains that it's too hard to hit in it.
The Yankees used 3 pitchers, all of whom have gotten some stick, and all 3 of who deserved a better fate on the night. Sonny Gray went the 1st 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. The 2 runs came in the bottom of the 4th, as Jose Altuve singled, Carlos Correa walked, and Yuli Gurriel doubled them home. Dellin Betances pitched a perfect 8th, Jonathan Holder a scoreless 9th.
There was no excuse for the Yankees not to have scored, at minimum, the 2 runs needed to send it to extra innings. Charlie Morton is not yet at the point where we can call him a great pitcher.
With 1 out in the 3rd, Gleyber Torres drew a walk, but Austin Romine -- who will soon be surpassed by Torres on the "What has he done to deserve a major league roster spot?" question -- grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Astros 2, Yankees 1. WP: Morton (4-0). SV: Ken Giles (3). LP: Gray (1-2).
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Enough was enough. It was time for the Yankees to grab the script away from the Astros, burn it, and write a new one.
On Tuesday night, it didn't look like they wouod. Justin Verlander, the man that Yankee general manager Brian Cashman refused to trade for, thus allowing Astros GM Jeff Luhnow to do so, thus making all the difference in the World (Series), pitched 8 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits and no walks, and striking out 14.
Meanwhile, Yankee starter Jordan Montgomery left the game after just 1 inning. Aaron Boone put Domingo German on the mound for the 2nd, and we all figured this series would be a complete disaster.
German surprised us: He went 4 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 walk... and no runs. Chad Green pitched a perfect 6th, Dellin Betances a scoreless 7th, and David Robertson a scoreless 8th. It was 0-0 going to the top of the 9th.
Time for Arsène Wenger to bring Olivier Giroud on. Oh, that's right... Well, at least Arsène can still do that for The Arsenal. Oh, that's right... Well, there's still the possibility that Arsène could bring Giroud back for next season. Oh, that's right...
Anyway... Astro manager A.J. Hinch took Verlander out, bringing on Ken Giles. Big mistake, and the Yankees took advantage. Aaron Judge led off with a single to right. Didi Gregorius doubled to left... but Judge couldn't score. And when Giancarlo Stanton struck out, we all though, "Well, here we go again."
Gary Sanchez crushed a ball to deep center field, his 8th home run of the season. 3-0 Yankees. Aaron Hicks singled to right. He stole 2nd. Hinch brought Will Harris on to pitch. Miguel Andujar grounded out, but Hicks advanced to 3rd. Tyler Austin grounded out, but not before a wild pitch by Harris brought Hicks home. 4-0 Yankees.
Aroldis Chapman struck out the side, in what the wild pitcher rendered a non-save situation. Yankees 4, Astros 0. WP: Robertson (2-1). No save. LP: Giles (0-1).
It was determined that Montgomery had a strained flexor tendon in his left (throwing) arm. He will be out for 6 to 8 weeks. Oy vey.
*
The Wednesday night game featured Luis Severino starting against Dallas Keuchel, a Yankee nemesis since the 2015 Wild Card Game. This time, the Yankees decided to hit the Astros early. With 2 out in the 1st, Didi singled to left, and Stanton remembered 2 things: A, He is getting paid big money to hit home runs; and, 2, Minute Maid Park is a hitter's park. He drove one down the right field line, it was fair, and the Yankees had a 2-0 lead before Keuchel could even take the mound.
Keuchel didn't pitch badly, going 7 innings, allowing just 1 more run: Another Stanton blast, this time to left field, in the 4th. That gave him 7 on the season.
But Sevy brilliant. Not brilliant enough, perhaps, to make Joe Girardi throw out the damn binder. But brilliant enough, it seems, to make Aaron Boone ignore it. Boone let Sevy go the distance, 110 pitches, 9 innings, no runs, 5 hits, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts. Only in the 7th inning did an Astro even reach 2nd base.
Yankees 2, Astros 0. WP: Severino (5-1, his only loss being that disaster at Fenway). No save. LP: Keuchel (1-5).
*
The series closed on Thursday afternoon, and the finale was a doozy. Neither starter, Masahiro Tanaka for the Yankees and Lance McCullers Jr., turned out to be the winning pitcher. Each team blew a save. The Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the top of the 2nd, made it 3-0 in the 3rd, and kept it that way into the bottom of the 7th.
To that point, Tanaka had allowed just 3 hits and no walks. But in the 7th, he allowed singles to Yuli Gurriel and Josh Reddick, and his Alex Bregman with a pitch, loading the bases with nobody out, and bringing the go-ahead run to the plate.
Boone challenged, saying Bregman had not actually been hit. The replay showed that he was. This may have been a stalling tactic, designed to get a reliever more time to warm up.
If that's true, it didn't work: Boone brought Green in, and he had nothing. He gave up RBI singles to Marwin Gonzalez and former Yankee Brian McCain. Derek Fisher came up. No, not the 43-year-old former Los Angeles Lakers star who coached the Knicks from 2014 to 2016. This is a 23-year-old outfielder with a "career" on-based percentage of just .283.
A passed ball by Sanchez allowed the tying run to score. Green struck Fisher out, but a grounder by George Springer brought home the go-ahead run. Green allowed a home run by Carlos Correa in the 8th, to make it 5-3 Astros going to the 9th.
Had that score held, the Yankees would have ended a 7-game roadtrip to Anaheim and Houston 5-2. Before the series, I would have happily taken that. But the way the Yankees lost the Monday game, and stood to lose the Thursday game, would have left a sour taste in my mouth.
Hinch brought Harris on to protect the 2-run lead in the 9th. There are certain things you don't want your closer to do, and walk the leadoff man in the 9th, especially if it's Neil Walker, is one of them. Cliche alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety.
Andujar singled to right. Hicks singled to left, and now, the Yankees had the situation that the Astros had in the bottom of the 7th: Bases loaded, nobody out.
Hinch brought Brad Peacock in. The batter was Gleyber Torres, in what was easily the biggest moment of his career so far.
He hit a line drive to left, dropping for a hit, and scoring Walker and Andjuar. Tie ballgame.
Gardner flew out, but a Judge grounder to 3rd got Hicks home. The Astros threatened in the bottom of the 9th, but Chapman got out of it. Yankees 6, Astros 5. WP: Shreve (1-0). SV: Chapman (7). LP: Harris (1-2).
Last year's Yankees, or any year's Yankees since 2009, might well have gone 3-4 on this trip to a pair of Western cities that have been tough on them. But this year's the Yankees went 6-1, and come home to face the Cleveland Indians. Come on you Pinstripes!
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