Take That, Astros!

The Yankees started their toughest stretch of the season, 12 straight games against potential Playoff opponents, on Tuesdau night, at Daikin Park, formerly Minute Maid Park, formerly Enron Field, formerly The Ballpark at Union Station, in Houston. This began a 3-game series against the Houston Astros, formerly the Houston Colt .45s, also know as the Houston Asstros, the Houston Asshats, the Houston Asterisks, the Red Sox South, and the Chicken Fried Cheats.

Given the fact that the Astros have eliminated the Yankees from the Playoffs in 4 of the last 10 seasons coming into this one, and another Playoff matchup against them this season is possible, we had to send those  cheating bastards a message. We have to take at least 2 out of the 3. Anything less than that would have been unacceptable.

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Max Fried started on Tuesday night, and he continued his resurgence after a difficult slump to start the 2nd half of the season. He went 7 innings, allowing just 1 run. Paul Blackburn went the rest of the way. That took a lot of pressure off the bullpen.

Jazz Chisholm made the difference all by himself, going 3-for-4 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs. Trent Grisham went 2-for-4 with a grand slam. Yankees 7, Astros 1. A huge win, and a big statement made to the Chicken Fried Cheats in their bandbox

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But Wednesday night was the kind of game that will loom large in our memories if the Yankees don't win the American League Eastern Division, especially if we can't go on from a Wild Card position to win the World Series.

It didn't start out that way. Will Warren allowed just 1 run in 5 innings. Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run in the 2nd inning, Austin Wells hit one in the 4th, and Ryan McMahon drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 6th.

To lead off the bottom of the 6th, Jeremy Peña hit a home run. The Yankees still led, 4-2. Warren had thrown only 67 pitches, 46 of them for strikes. There was no reason to take him out and play musical chairs with the bullpen. But Aaron Boone did that. Fernando Cruz allowed another run in the 6th. And Luke Weaver allowed the Astros to tie the game in the 7th.

Then came the bottom of the 8th. Devin Williams may be the single most disappointing acquisition of the Brian Cashman era. Based on what he'd done with the Milwaukee Brewers -- who have the best record in baseball by 4 1/2 games without him -- he was expected to be the reliable closer that the Yankees haven't had since Mariano Rivera retired. Instead, he's been bad in the 9th inning and later, but good in innings 6, 7 and 8.

Not this time: He gave up a double and a walk, got a strikeout, gave up another walk to load the bases, got another strikeout to give us hope of getting out of the inning okay, then forced in a run with a walk.

Boone had seen enough: He took Williams out, and brought in new acquisition Camilo Doval. He allowed an RBI single, then forced runners home on a balk and a walk pitch, before he finally got a groundout to end the inning with 4 runs on 2 hits, 3 walks, a balk and a wild pitch. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, although they're not the only thing that can. In this case, the other things wouldn't have without the walks.

Pardon my French, but DeFuque? Boone could have left Warren in, saved 3 bullpen slots, and, in practical term, it wouldn't have been any worse than this. Cruz threw 16 pitches, Weaver 22. Add those to Warren's 67, and you've got 105 pitches. That's not too many. Williams with 34 and Doval with 9 needed 43 pitches to end the bottom of the 8th.

What's worse, the Yankees mounted a comeback in the 9th, but it wasn't enough. With 1 out, McMahon singled. Grisham struck out, but Aaron Judge singled McMahon over to 3rd base. Judge took 2nd on defensive indifference. Cody Bellinger hit a home run, to make it 8-7.

But Chisholm was called out on strikes, on a pitch outside the strike zone, by home plate umpire Brian Walsh, to end it. There's no guarantee the Yankees would have gone on to tie the game had Walsh correctly given Chisholm ball 4. Still, it was a bad ending to a bad game.

The Astros won the game, a game in which Walsh had 21 missed calls. Walsh has admitted on Facebook to being a "Loyal Dodgers fan." After the game, someone found a picture of Walsh and an unidentified acquantaince wearing Boston Red Sox gear. Gee, you think he might have it in for the Yankees? Already, he's being called Boston Brian.

Walsh on the right. The guy on the left has not been identified.

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So the Thursday night game became very important for both teams, but especially for the Yankees. They needed a good start from Carlos Rodón. They got one, as he went 6 innings, allowing only 2 runs. McMahon singled a run home in the 2nd inning, then hit a home run in the 5th. This was followed by 3 singles and 2 walks, and the Yankees left it up 4-1. Rodón left winning 4-2.

But Weaver began the 7th by allowing a home run to make it 4-3. He got 2 strikeouts, but also put runners on 1st and 2nd. Boone took him out, and brought in Cruz, to face the dangerous, cheating, diminutive, insufferable Jose Altuve. Cruz struck his cheating ass out, and the traveling Yankee Fans could be heard cheering over the the home fans.

The Yankees took this big lift into the top of the 8th, and scored 4 runs, including a screamer down the right-field line by Grisham, ending up in the 2nd deck. It was 8-3. If you want to argue that Cal Raleigh deserves the AL's Most Valuable Player award more than Judge, Grisham is your best argument: He might be more valuable to the Yankees than Judge is.

Cruz allowed a single to start the bottom of the 8th, then retired the next 3. David Bednar was brought in to pitch the bottom of the 9th. He was shaky: He began the inning with a single and a double. That double was hit by former Yankee Taylor Trammell. Afterward, Boone told the umpires to look at his bat. He thought there was something wrong with it. Trammell's double was allowed to stand, but the umpires confiscated the bat. We shall see if this is yet another example of the Astros' cheating.

There was a line-shot that shortstop Anthony Volpe caught. Apparently, Boone still thinks his defense is worth keeping his .208 batting average and his .271 on-base percentage in the lineup, although he did get a hit in this game.

Bednar allowed an RBI single to make it 8-4, then gave up a walk, loading the bases. The tying run was at the plate, with just 1 out. But he struck Carlos Correa out, and then he struck Christian Walker out to end it -- in each case, swinging, not on a disputable call. Yankees 8, Astros 4. Take that, Astros, you cheating bastards!

For the series, Altuve, the single most-hated Yankee opponent since fellow cheating bastard David Ortiz, went 0-for-11, with 2 walks, an RBI on a groundout, and 3 strikeouts.

One troubling note, though: Chisholm had to leave last night's game with contusions on both legs. Will he be able to play in the Toronto series?

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So the Yankees not only survived their 1st big test of September, they took 2 out of 3 in Houston. They messed with Texas.

They are 78-62. They are 3 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Eastern Division, with 22 left to play, and the next 3 are at home, at Yankee Stadium II, against those pesky Blue Jays. If the current standings hold to the end of the season, then, despite both teams having a better record than the AL West-leading Astros, the Yankees would have the 4th seed in the AL Playoffs, and the Boston Red Sox would have the 5th seed, and the Yanks and Sox would play each other, with the Yanks having home-field advantage.

Here are the projected pitching matchups for the Toronto series, with all 3 games on YES:

* Tonight, 7:05: Cam Schlittler vs. Kyle Gausman.

* Tomorrow, 1:05: Luis Gil, last season's AL Rookie of the Year, vs. Max Scherzer, a probable future Hall-of-Famer.

* Sunday, 1:35: Max Fried vs. Chris Bassitt.

This could decide the Division title. Come on you Pinstripes!