You win some, you lose some – Yankees lose three out of four to Astros
Game 1: It was a rain-filled day for the first game of the New York Yankees day-night doubleheader against the Houston Astros. The Yankees offense exploded for the first time this series and ended up with the victory, 11-6. In arguably his worst start of the year, Yankees starting pitcher Luis Severino was dismantled by the Astros. The young righty managed to throw only 2.1 innings and racked up 77 pitches in that time while allowing three earned runs on six hits and three walks. The Yankees took the lead in the first inning when Matt Holliday grounded out off of Astros’ starter, Mike Fiers. Their lead was short lived as the Astros piled on three runs in the third inning – forcing Severino to exit. But Severino’s counterpart didn’t fair much better. Fiers allowed two home runs, back-to-back, in the bottom of the fourth inning to Starlin Castro and Aaron Judge.
Here's how Aaron Judge's 14th homer looked to @statcast: pic.twitter.com/V1ZTs82pgp
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) May 14, 2017
The Yankee bats exploded in the seventh inning for five runs to take a 10-6 lead over Houston. Chase Headley emptied the bases with a triple that split the gap in right-center field. Despite allowing six runs, the Yankees’ offense was able to put together 11 runs and take the first game of the doubleheader. Jonathan Holder came on in the ninth inning to close down the game effectively. Win- Adam Warren Loss- Will Harris Game 2:
Derek Jeter was celebrated before the second game of the doubleheader as fans packed into Yankee Stadium. “Time flies, memories fade, but family is forever. And I’ll be eternally grateful to be part of the Yankee family,” said the former Yankee captain.
Derek Sanderson Jeter. #JeterNight pic.twitter.com/SXo69GYWLh — MLB (@MLB) May 15, 2017
The Yankees played miserably despite the honoring of Jeter on Sunday night. The Astros plastered Masahiro Tanaka for eight runs in 1.2 innings. The Japanese pitcher allowed seven hits and four home runs. Tanaka certainly hasn’t lived up to the title of ‘ace’ this season, as he now sports a 5.80 ERA. George Springer homered twice and Alex Bregman hit a grand slam in the Astros mammoth win. Josh Reddick also homered for the Astros. Astros’ starter Charlie Morton dominated Yankee hitters all night long up until the fifth inning. The hard-throwing righty struck out eight over five innings. Matt Holliday rocketed a three-run home run off of Morton in the bottom of the fifth to bring the Yankees within five runs, 9-4. The Yanks made it interesting in the ninth, brining across three more runs, but ultimately fell short 10-7. The Yankees lost three out of four to the American League leading Astros. Sitting at 22-13, the Bronx Bombers will travel to Kansas City to take on the Royals in their upcoming road trip. Notes: With Aroldis Chapman on the shelf, the Yankees will have to rely on Dellin Betances to close out games going forward. Betances struggled mightily in the closer role when Chapman and Andrew Miller were traded, so it will be interesting to see how he does given the added pressure.