Despite getting a series split back in Yankee Stadium, the Yankees spent most of the four-game set against the Astros trailing. One of the losses was a no-hitter and the two wins required two remarkable late-inning comebacks. Wins are wins, and the box score doesn’t have pictures. If they did though, the pictures wouldn’t be the most flattering.
Less than a week later, the Yankees took on Houston again, and the Astros’ pitching held them in check once more. Luis Garcia allowed one run in 5.1 innings before turning it over to his bullpen, which added 3.2 scoreless innings. In fact, only three New York batters reached base against Dusty Baker’s ‘pen. It was a quiet game in general as the Yankees dropped their one-game trip to Houston, falling 2-1.
In better news, unlike the final two games of the Astros’ series, there wasn’t a no-hitter watch as DJ LeMahieu got the Yankees a mark in that column in the third inning. However, the Yankees would find themselves having to try and rally again.
Jake Meyers recorded a leadoff double to start the bottom of the third, but Severino came right back and got two outs to get on the verge of ending the threat. But he then issued walks to Aledmys Díaz and Kyle Tucker, loading the bases despite being a strike away from getting out of the inning. Alex Bregman would take advantage, doubling home two runs. The Yankees got out of it after that, albeit in a very weird way. During the next at-bat, Tucker took off from third as Severino was trying to adjust his PitchCom device. Severino calmly threw home to Trevino, who tagged out Tucker just in time.
Severino got back on track afterwards, throwing a couple scoreless frames before his offense finally got on the board. In the sixth, Anthony Rizzo hit his 21st home run of the season, a solo shot to cut in Houston’s lead. The Yankees put another two runners on after that in the inning, but couldn’t bring either of them home.
Severino’s day would be over when Ron Marinaccio came in to start the seventh. Although he got tagged with the loss, it was a good outing from Sevy. In his six innings, he allowed two runs on three hits and two walks, striking out four. Following the two-run double by Bregman in the third, he retired the last nine hitters he faced.
The Yankees had a bit of a chance at a tying run in the eighth when Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-out single. However, Josh Donaldson proceeded to strike out on three pitches, chasing one pretty badly for strike three. That ended up being the last chance real chance they had.
Marinaccio and Albert Abreu both provided a scoreless inning apiece. Isiah Kiner-Falefa made an excellent play on defense in support of Marinaccio, diving to snare a ball and getting to his feet to retire Mauricio Dubón.
The solid work on the other side of the ball left the Yankees still down just one ahead of their last chance in the ninth. The offense couldn’t take advantage and went down in order against Ryan Pressley, confirming the loss. New York now sits with a 56-21 record at the end of a 22-6 June — their best month in 66 years.
Due to a weird quirk of the lockout rearranged schedule, the Yankees will be back in Houston for a doubleheader in a couple weeks. It would be nice if they had at least one game against the Astros where they spent most of the nine innings in control. For now, they’ll head to Cleveland for a three-game weekend set. Gerrit Cole will take on Aaron Civale tomorrow night at 7:10pm ET.
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