Yankees and Astros split a 4-game set in Houston
After taking two out of three against the
Tigers and winning the last game of a three-game set against the Phillies, both
in New York, the Yankees traveled to Houston on Thursday to begin a 4-game set
at Minute Maid Park in Houston. After being completely dominated by one of the
aces in the game, Dallas Keuchel, the Yankees took Games 2 and 3 by going ahead
in the final frames but lost Game 4 after McHugh outpitched Michael Pineda.
NYY
0 @ HOU 4
Coming off a loss in Seattle where he pitched
only six innings and gave up five runs, Houston ace Dallas Keuchel matched up
with New York’s Adam Warren, which might have been Warren’s last start before
moving to the bullpen. Keuchel came in as one of the best in the game, with a
8-3 record, 2.35 ERA, and 83 strikeouts in 109.1 IP. Adam Warren came into the
matchup after notching his 5th win against the Tigers in a 2-run, 8-inning
effort.
Many fans realized the miserable matchup the
Yankees would have against Keuchel with McCann and Gardner resting. The first
inning started ominously as after giving up a single to Chris Young, Keuchel
proceeded to strike out Headley, Alex Rodriguez, and Teixeira consecutively.
Houston struck first in the 2nd inning on a Preston Tucker double, with Colby
Rasmus racing home all the way to first. In the 4th, Jose Altuve doubled to
deep left after leading off, and scored on a Colby Rasmus sacrifice fly.
Keuchel continued to dominate hitters, not even letting a Yankee reach second
base until the 9th inning when the bases were loaded and Jose Pirela came to
the plate. Astros manager AJ Hinch let Keuchel stay in the game, but Pirela
grounded out to third in a fielder’s choice to end the game. Keuchel pitched a
6-hit, 12-strikeout shutout and won his 9th game.
GAME
TWO (6/26)
NYY
3 @ HOU 2
Houston sent out Vincent Velasquez, a rookie,
into Game 2 to face Not-so-nasty Nathan Eovaldi. After getting destroyed in
Miami, Eovaldi pitched a decent game in Detroit, allowing 2 runs in 6 innings
and picking up the win. Velasquez’s first three starts all resulted in
no-decisions.
Houston struck first on a Carlos Correa single
scoring Conger in the bottom of the third inning. Evan Gattis added on a single
that scored Jose Altuve in the 6th. The Yankees had not threatened at all up to
this point. However, in the top of the 7th, after a Brian McCann lineout,
Beltran and Garrett Jones hit back to back singles. Velasquez was taken out by
Astros manager A.J. Hinch.
In came Will Harris. Chris Young stepped up,
and on a 1-1 count, hit a THREE-RUN HOMER into left field, putting the Yankees
all the way ahead 3-2. Chasen Shreve took over for Eovaldi, and Shreve doing
Shreve, he struck out the side. Justin Wilson, now Girardi’s 8th-inning man,
came in and got 2 outs before walking Luis Valbuena. Dellin Betances had to
came in, and struck out Evan Gattis after Valbuena stole second. Betances
pitched a hitless 9th for his sixth save.
GAME
THREE (6/27)
NYY
9 @ HOU 6
Houston sent Brett Oberholtzer into Game 3. He
owed a 2-1 record with a 2.81 ERA. He was up against Masahiro Tanaka, who was
in his 5th start after returning from his 1-month stint on the disabled list.
Brett Gardner led off the game with a double. After Chris Young and A-Rod
walked, Mark Teixiera popped out. In what seemed like a potential waste of an
inning, Brian McCann stepped out and promptly, on a 1-0 pitched, SMASHED the
ball into the right field stands for a GRAND SLAM. Ohhhh McCann can! New York
led 4-0.
Chris Young added to the damage with a 1-out,
2-run home run in the second inning. The next batter was A-Rod. Now, as replays
would show, Oberholtzer was extremely frustrated with his pitching after
Young’s home run. He said words that I couldn’t write on this blog. Obviously
frustrated, he threw his next pitch at A-Rod, towards his lower half and knees.
Home plate umpire Rob Drake immediately saw this as intentional and tossed him
out. Sabathia was halfway out of the dugout when he saw this and it was great
seeing him come to A-Rod’s defense. Girardi was fired up as well and both benches
were warned.
Tanaka, with a 6-0 lead, seemed on his way to
another win. However, this was not to be. A Chris Carter double and a Springer
single decreased the lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the 2nd. In the bottom of the
4th Chris Carter hit a solo shot. Then, in the 5th inning, Correa
hit a 2-run home run, decreasing the deficit to 1 for the Astros. Then, the
next hitter, Altuve, hit a solo shot over the left field wall and the 6-0 lead
was gone as the game was then tied.
Bryan Mitchell came in after Tanaka finished
the 5th and he would receive a no-decision. Mitchell pitched well, striking out
3 in 1.1 IP. Chasen Shreve loaded the bases after taking over for Mitchell in
the 7th, but struck out Jon Singleton to end the jam. Pat Neshek took over in
the top of the 8th for Houston. Gardner and Young reached on a
single and error, respectively. After A-Rod flied out, Mark Teixeira smashed a
double to left field and the Yankees led 8-6. Chase Headley hit a solo shot on
the top of the 9th to give Betances a three-run lead, and he closed it out to
earn his 7th save of the year. Shreve earned his 5th win of the year with his
relief efforts.
GAME
FOUR (6/28)
NYY
1 @ HOU 3
Houston sent out Collin McHugh to salvage a
split and indeed he pitched a gem. In a game where both Pineda and McHugh both
pitched eight innings, the Astros managed more offense and they won 3-1. New
York struck first on a single by Gardner that scored Stephen Drew. However,
Garrett Jones and Gardner misplayed a ball in center and that led Carlos Correa
to double and then score on a “Little League” homerun. He was not credited with
a HR because Gardner’s error led Correa to round the bases. Houston added an
insurance run in the 8th to extend the lead to 3-1. New York then weakly ended
the game against Houston by not even threatening Luke Gregerson, who earned his
18th save of the year for Houston. The Astros and Yankees split their 4-game
set. The Yankees only managed two hits and two walks against McHugh. Pineda
pitched a 107-pitch complete game, but lost due to a lack of New York offense.
MY
TAKES
Brett Gardner continued his
extremely hot hitting. He has hit .448 in the last seven games with 13 hits in
29 at-bats and 6 RBIs. He has also walked 5 times, and his OBP is .529 going
back to the last seven games.
Chasen Shreve and Justin Wilson continued to pitch very
well in Games 2 and 3, pitching a combined 4.1 innings in relief and did not
give up a run. With Miller’s return to happen in the next couple weeks, it’ll
be interesting to see who gets the 7th inning.
Who will go to the pen? Will it be Sabathia,
Warren, or Eovaldi? It looks like Sabathia is off the hook and most likely it
will be Adam Warren. The bloggers at Bronx Bombers Blogger have reason to
believe that Eovaldi’s powerful fastball could put him useful as a 1-inning
reliever, but it looks like Shreve and Wilson have done well in that aspect.
Chris Young came back to his
hometown, and with his family in attendance, he played really well against the
Astros. He had six hits in the first 3 games, and especially his go-ahead,
3-run home run gave New York the win in Game 2.
LOOKING
FORWARD
Jacoby Ellsbury is scheduled to begin
a rehab assignment this week, which means we could see him back by the end of
this week or early next week. That is good news for the team, as Carlos Beltran
and Garrett Jones should not have to play in right field, ever.
The Yankees (41-35)
will travel to Anaheim for a three-game set against the Angels (39-37). Sabathia,
Nova, and Eovaldi are scheduled to be the pitchers in the games. CC Sabathia
(3-7, 5.65 ERA) will face off against CJ Wilson (5-6, 3.92 ERA) in Game 1 on
Monday, June 29th starting at 10:05 PM Eastern.
Article by: Bryan Peng
Twitter: @bpeng1111
Follow our blog on twitter @BronxBomberBlog
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