The Yankees’ bats again were quiet, this time at the hands of the Houston Astros. They managed just 4 runs in 3 games, while the opposition pounded out 21 in that same span. It all adds up to another series loss, something that the team cannot keep doing if they want to be in meaningful games come the end of September.
In the opener, some masterful pitching was on display by both sides. Scott Feldman tossed 8 shutout innings for Houston, who then handed the ball over to Oliver Perez to try to keep the game scoreless in the ninth. He couldn’t do his job, ultimately giving up a sacrifice fly to Carlos Beltran to end the game as a 1-0 Yankees win.
The pinstripes managed just 6 hits, and three of them were by Brian McCann. None of them did any damage, but the walks given up by Perez did. In that final frame, he walked all three batters he faced without getting an out, and Chad Qualls was given the tough task of getting out of the bases-loaded, none-out jam. He did induce Beltran to fly out, but Brett Gardner tagged up at third to give the Yankees a walk-off victory.
Nathan Eovaldi matched Feldman pitch-for-pitch, also throwing 8 shutout innings. He gave up 4 hits and struck out 7 in his best outing of the year. Eovaldi was able to safely hand the ball over to Andrew Miller, who earned the win after pitching a scoreless top of the ninth. Houston could not get a runner past second base all game, and managed just 5 hits in total. Carlos Correa and Evan Gattis had two each, and Luis Valbuena had the 5th.
Coming off of a great outing by Eovaldi, the Yankees looked to Ivan Nova to take control of the middle game. He did not deliver, and was pulled after allowing 7 runs in 4 innings. The result was a 15-1 drubbing of the Yankees by the Astros. Houston collected 15 hits and walked 8 times, leading to a 5-run 1st, a 4-run 5th, and a 6-run 7th. Gattis and Carlos Gomez already had a homer and 4 RBI each by the time infielder Brendan Ryan came in to pitch the 8th and 9th. Marwin Gonzalez and Jason Castro also had 3 hits in the barrage, which included 7 hits with runners in scoring position and 12 RBI with 2 outs.
The Yankees mustered only 4 hits in the game. Dallas Keuchel gave up 3 of them in 7 innings; he also walked none and struck out 9. The lone RBI came by Greg Bird, who grounded into a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the ninth to score Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury had half of the team’s hits.
The rubber game wasn’t much better for the Yankees, who lost 6-2. Michael Pineda was largely ineffective in his first start since July 24th. He allowed 5 runs on 6 hits in 4.1 innings, including one of Gattis’ 2 homers on the day. Adam Warren surrendered the other in the 8th inning to cap off Houston’s scoring. Valbuena also had 2 hits, and Jake Marisnick, Jose Altuve, Jason Castro, and Marwin Gonzalez each added an RBI.
The 7th inning was the only source of pride for the Yankees, who scored 2 in that inning on a Didi Gregorius homer. Another great outing was turned in by Collin McHugh, who surrendered those two runs in 6.1 innings of work. Gregorius had the big day with 2 hits and those 2 RBI as the team managed only 5 hits.
In all, a bone-dry series for the offense and lackluster pitching pushed the Yankees back even further behind the Blue Jays in the AL East. These are the performances that got them to where they are now:
Offensive MVP:Â Didi Gregorius- Normally, a 3-10 series isn’t deserving of this honor, but it was the best clip on the team. Also drove in 2 of the team’s 4 runs in the set.
Cold Streak:Â Alex Rodriguez– His second-half plummet continues with a hitless series.
Pitcher of the Series: Nathan Eovaldi- Didn’t even earn the win after tossing 8 shutout innings, but this guy is coming into his own on the mound.
Mound Misery:Â Ivan Nova- It’s improbable that they would’ve won that game anyway, scoring just one run, but giving up 7 runs doesn’t help the cause.
