Yankees 3, Astros 4: Houston avoids sweep in nailbiter
10/05/2024 02:18
Homers by Anthony Volpe and Aaron Judge and a gutty performance by Marcus Stroman are not enough as the Yankees fall short
The Yankees were unable to avail themselves of a tantalizing opportunity to record a season series sweep of the Astros on Thursday, losing 4-3 to their biggest nemesis of the past decade. The defeat snapped New York's nine-game winning streak against Houston that dated back to last September. Yankees starter Marcus Stroman battled after a difficult first inning and the bullpen was characteristically excellent, but their offense — red hot through the series' first two games — fell just short.
After getting outscored 19-7 in the series' first two games, the Astros' bats made themselves known early in game three. Yordan Alvarez struck first in the opening frame, smashing a 116.8-mph screamer off the second deck in right to give Houston an early lead. This was nothing new, as Kyle Tucker had belted solo shots of his own in the first inning on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Yankees quickly responded.
The problem for Stroman was that he didn't hold the Astros to the one run. After a Jeremy Peña walk, Jon Singleton clobbered a 442-foot bomb off the facing of the upper deck to make it 3-0, Astros.
Stroman allowed just nine long balls in 136.2 innings last year, but he has already allowed seven in just 42.2 frames this year — an uncharacteristic rate for a pitcher who has reliably kept the ball in the yard throughout his career.
Stroman ran into more trouble in the second, loading the bases after allowing a Yainer Diaz double and weak singles to Joey Loperfido and Jose Altuve. On a 3-2 count, the Yankee righty struck out Tucker, the Astros' hottest hitter. He then induced a fly out off the bat of Alvarez, preventing the Astros from putting a crooked number on the board early.
The Yankees' bats, which had been so dynamic this series, broke through in the third. Oswaldo Cabrera started the inning by reaching on a weak grounder that starter Ronel Blanco threw away, which was dubiously marked down in the hit column. Anthony Volpe followed with a slicing line drive that snuck over the right-field porch for a two-run round-tripper.
That's where the scoring stayed until the top of the fifth. Alvarez hit a one-out double to right, coming around to score on a base hit by Peña up the middle and off the glove of Volpe at short. Stroman escaped further damage on an unusual 5-3 double play, as Cabrera caught a high popup near the pitcher's mound and rifled it over to first to double off Peña.
In the bottom half of the inning, Cabrera led off with a base hit and Juan Soto drew a one-out walk, putting two runners on with one out for Aaron Judge, who had been heating up entering play. He rolled over a changeup for an inning-ending double play. It was the Yankee captain's 10th twin killing of the season, three more than any other player in baseball, in what has become a concerning trend.
After getting Diaz to hit a double play of his own in the sixth, Stroman allowed a two-out walk to Loperfido that ended his evening. The right-hander's final line was 5.2 innings with four runs scattered around nine hits and two walks, bringing his season ERA up to 3.80.
Luke Weaver came on in relief of Stroman and performed admirably, getting Mauricio Dubón on a flyout to end the sixth before retiring the side in order in the seventh, including punch-outs of the ever-dangerous Tucker and Alvarez. He was replaced in the eighth by Dennis Santana, who recorded a scoreless inning of his own to keep the Yankees' deficit to two.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees' bats began to show some signs of life against Astros reliever Ryan Pressly. Soto hit a 114.9-mph scorcher directly at Tucker in right for out number one. Then Judge turned around what had been an 0-for-3 day with one swing, a bomb that landed 473 feet away from home plate to bring the Yankees within one.
It was the captain's longest dinger since a 496-foot shot during his sensational rookie season, off now-teammate Stroman.
Alex Verdugo followed with a walk, bringing Giancarlo Stanton to the plate. The hulking DH worked the count full and fouled off two tough pitches before getting rung up on a Pressly slider that nicked the inside corner. Houston closer Josh Hader then entered to face his fellow lefty Anthony Rizzo, who popped up a slider to end the inning.
Ron Marinaccio worked in and out of trouble in the top of the ninth, completing a scoreless day for the Yankees' makeshift — yet remarkably effective — bullpen.
The Yankees threatened in the ninth, after a Gleyber Torres single and a check-swing dribbler by Jon Berti put a runner in scoring position with one away. But Hader shut the door, getting pinch-hitter Jose Trevino to fly out and retiring Volpe on strikes to close out the one-run victory for Houston.
The Yankees will kick off a three-game tilt in Tampa Bay tomorrow at 6:50 PM ET. Clarke Schmidt is lined up to start, coming off his third win of the season against the Tigers. The Rays are expected to hand the ball to Taj Bradley in his first appearance of the season, taking the spot of injured starter Ryan Pepiot.
