The New York Yankees faced off against the Houston Astros on Thursday evening in a pit-stop game before they travel to Cleveland for three-game series against the Guardians. The Bombers recently split a four-game series in the Bronx against Houston but failed to overcome them despite missing several starters.
On Wednesday against the Mets, Houston outfielder Yordan Álvarez and infielder Jeremy Peña collided, injuring both players. Neither were included in the lineup on Thursday, in addition to Michael Brantley. Nonetheless, they still managed to stifle a Yankee team that simply couldn’t get their bats going.
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Good news and bad news as Yankees fall to Astros in pit-stop game:
Luis Severino got the start for the Yanks, giving up two earned runs and three hits over 6.0 innings. Altogether, Severino had a solid outing, but his team couldn’t rally and provide enough run production to push them over the hump.
Over 87 pitches, Severino struck out four batters and walked two. The bullpen was efficient as well. Ron Marinaccio and Albert Abreu combined for two hitless innings, striking out three total batters.
Astros starting pitcher Luis Garcia went 5.1 innings, giving up three eights and one run, courtesy of an Anthony Rizzo solo blast. He struck out six batters, tossing 101 pitches. Unfortunately, a dominant Astros bullpen shut down the Yankees the rest of the way, giving up two hits over the final four innings.
As a whole, the Yankees only tallied five hits, striking out 11 times. Josh Donaldson struck out three times, failing to make an impact in the five slot. Jose Treviño struck out twice, and the bottom of the order struggled considerably to get anything on the board.
For some reason, the Houston Astros seem to be the Yankees’ kryptonite, defeating them even without three of their premier starters. Alex Bregman provided the difference-maker with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 3rd inning, smacking a double off the left-field wall that was nearly a grand slam.
The Yankees haven’t gotten much from their starting pitching the last few games, but Sevy did enough to win this one. Aaron Boone and his squad will look ahead to Cleveland on Friday night at 7:10 PM.
With a day off on July 4, the Yankees will get much-needed rest before seven consecutive games on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Red Sox.