James Paxton started last night: He was pulled after 5 innings and an even 100 pitches. He allowed just 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 7.
With 1 out in the 3rd, Cameron Maybin singled, and Gary Sanchez hit a tremendous blast into the left-center field Bleachers, measured at 481 feet. 2-0 Yankees. The Astros pulled a run back in the 4th, but the Yankees iced the game in the 7th, with a double by Brett Gardner and a home run by Gleyber Torres.
It was the 3rd straight game in which both Sanchez and Torres hit home runs. In the 144-season history of Major League Baseball -- 149 seasons, if you count the National Association of the early 1870s, as some sources do -- no pair of teammates had ever done that before. It's kind of an obscure record, but I sure like the results.
This may not be the old M&M Boys, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. But the G&G Boys -- not yet including Didi Gregorius -- are getting the job done. They certainly G for Gouged the Astros.
The Yankee bullpen did what it had to do: Adam Ottavino in the 6th inning, Tommy Kahnle in the 7th, Zack Britton in the 8th, and Aroldis Chapman in the 9th. Yankees 4, Astros 1. WP: Paxton (5-3). SV: Chapman (21). LP: Peacock (6-5). That's 7 straight wins for the Yankees, and 6 straight losses for the Astros.
The Yankees are now 4 1/2 games ahead of the Rays in the AL East, 7 ahead of the Red Sox -- 5 and 8, respectively, in the loss column. In all of MLB, only the Minnesota Twins (by 1 game) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (by 3 games) have a better record than the Bronx Bombers.
The series continues tonight. Masahiro Tanaka starts against Wade Miley. Win tonight, and that's no worse than 3 out of 4 against a potential Playoff opponent.