The Yankees were backed by an intense crowd

The New York Yankees were able to defeat the Houston Astros 7-3 in the first game of their series at Yankee Stadium, backed by a four-hit performance by Giancarlo Stanton and a good game on the mound by Domingo German, who overcame two homers to earn the win.

But the story of the night was the Yankees’ intense crowd that made Astros players feel unwelcomed, for the lack of a better word.

Inflatable trash cans, chants directed at specific players, intense booing, and other elements made for a wild atmosphere in Yankee Stadium, which was at around 33 percent of capacity, for the first time since 2019.

In 2019, the Astros eliminated the Yankees in the American League Championship Series, on Jose Altuve’s walk-off home run against Aroldis Chapman.

The Yankees made the Astros feel uncomfortable

Then, it was revealed that the Astros had deployed a complex sign-stealing scheme using cameras, and players would relay the signs to the batter by banging a trash can. The organization received a fine and the loss of draft picks, plus the suspension of manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Lunhow. But clearly, Yankees’ fans think that wasn’t nearly enough punishment.

“The fans led the charge there,” Giancarlo Stanton told MLB.com. “That was intense. I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of that. They brought something heavy.”

“It felt like a playoff atmosphere,” said manager Aaron Boone. “The energy that was created, we haven’t seen that since 2019. It was a fun game to be a part of, and the guys did a lot of really good things tonight: defensively, some big at-bats, some big pitching performances. It was a fun night to play the game.”

The Yankees came out on top as they cleared the bases in the sixth inning with, oddly enough, a hopper by DJ LeMahieu. It was slow, so Alex Bregman fielded it with his bare hand and made a bad throw to first that caused an error. Everybody scored, including Rougned Odor, who was injured in the play.

“This series has been circled by a lot of people for a while now,” LeMahieu said. “It was a wild atmosphere. To know the fans have our backs like that, it’s pretty special. I don’t think people will turn the page on [the Astros] anytime soon.”