Last night the New York Yankees rained on the Houston Astros parade; they won the series between the two rivals. It was a game that started with relatively heavy showers that subsided as the game continued, but that didn’t help the Astros as the Yankees took the second game away from the Astros 6-3. The rain also didn’t dampen the Yankee fans’ enthusiasm as they continued to make the Astro uncomfortable with loud boos throughout the game and mostly focused on Jose Altuve.
Stanton carrying the Yankees on his back
Giancarlo Stanton is quickly becoming SuperStanton; he is literally carrying the New York Yankees on his back. In his last twelve games, he has raised his batting average from .158 to .314 and is now performing as he did in his 2017 MVP season. In three games in May alone, he has struck out twice while hitting 8 hits and two home runs. He has now hit safely in 11 games in a row. He also is doing something no other player in baseball is doing; he is hitting the ball harder than hard. He has the highest exit velocity in home runs and line drives that can knock players down or pull the gloves right out of their hands. He officially has the highest exit velocity of any hit in this MLB season.
Besides Stanton’s first year with the Yankees, Stanton has been dogged with several injuries keeping him from being the player that all of baseball knows he can be. In the first month-plus of this season, he is healthy and showing the world he can still be that player that excels and sparks the rest of the team. While he has been on his hitting streak, the Yankees have climbed out of the hole they got themselves into, going 8-3. Stanton now leads the team in home runs and RBI’s.
Montgomery keeps them in the game
Jordan Montgomery didn’t have his best outing last night, but he pitched well enough to keep the New York Yankees in the game. Monty faced 23 Astro batters across six full innings of work. He gave up 3 earned runs, allowing 8 hits while striking out 4 Astros. Again, in what is almost expected, the Yankee bullpen came to the rescue, Luis Cessa, Wandy Peralta, and Jonathan Loaisiga combined for two innings of work, not allowing a run while striking out two. Loaisiga has been truly amazing this season with his .098 ERA. Also, as expected, Aroldis Chapman closed out the game for the Yankees striking out two and earning his seventh save of the season.
Other Yankees stuff
Rougned Odor that has been a spark for the New York Yankee lineup, certainly created his own spark running for home plate Tuesday night; he crashed into Maldonado, the Astros catcher, with such velocity that the two had to be helped off the field. The good news is that he was sent to the hospital for an MRI and has been diagnosed with a sprained left knee and put on the IL for a period the Yankees hope will not be too long. Manager Aaron Boone had this to say:
“All things considered, we kind of lucked out. You saw my reaction; I jumped out on the field because it looked ugly to me right away, and I was pretty concerned. I think it’s going to be on the shorter side. … I don’t think it’s going to be something that’s too long.â€
Masahiro Tanaka still follows the Yankees
Masahiro Tanaka was one of the New York Yankee pitchers involved in the 2017 season when the Houston Astros may have stolen the World Series from the Yankees when it was discovered that the Astros cheated in the 2017 season and including the playoffs. In the 2017 ALCS, Tanaka was 1-1 with a 1.38 ERA. He pitched again in the 2019 ALCS and again went 1-1. Apparently, Tanaka has been taking a keen interest in how the Yankees are doing now that they have gotten to meet up with the Astros for the first time since MLB confirmed the cheating. Tanaka tweeted this on his Twitter account:
“I like the place where different fans give beer quickly to the fans who picked up the trash can,†Tanaka wrote. We don’t know what that means, but we love it! And we love that place too!
Astros complain to MBL about being taunted
Believe it or not, the Houston Astros have complained to MBL about being booed and taunted this season, although not specifically at Yankee Stadium. This writer says, “too bad Astros, you deserve it and more.”
The Yankees have made every effort to assure the safety of Astros players, including confiscating an inflatable trash can, and guards said that David Taub went too far after spending $85 on an Oscar the Grouch costume. When he arrived at the Stadium, his costume said: “YOU AIN’T STEALING THIS COSTUME TRASHTROS.” The guards wouldn’t have it and informed him the Yankees had tightened their policies. Taub, however, got the last word. He climbed a hill, balled up the costume, and put it under some rocks with a sign saying, “MY FRIEND HAD A SIGN LIKE THIS, BUT THE TRASHTROS STOLE IT.” Keep the faith David Taub; there have been plenty of hand-painted signs at the Stadium trashing the Astros.
Astros series end with Gerrit Cole on the mound
Today in a matinee game at Yankee Stadium it will be the final game of a 3 game series with the Astros that the Yankees have already won, by winning the first two games. Today they will go for the sweep of their cheating rivals. They will try to do that with Yankee ace Gerrit Cole on the mound for the Yankees. The Astros will challenge Cole with Lance McCullers Jr. who is coming off this best start of the season against the Rays he struck out 9 over seven scoreless innings. Cole who has the superior ERA has had 62 strikeouts, in April, the most in any calendar month since Ron Guidry did it in June of 1978.
This will be a don’t miss game. It will be televised on the YES Network, ATT SportsNet SW, and the MLBN out of market only.