Masahiro Tanaka started for the Yankees last night, and did his job: 6 innings, 2 runs on 8 hits, just 1 walk. But Astro starter Wade Miley had a no-hitter going until the 5th inning. With 1 out, Aaron Hicks drew a walk. Edwin Encarnacion flew out, but Gio Urshela hit a home run, ending the no-hitter and the shutout. 2-0 Yankees.
Unfortunately, as so often happens, Tanaka has one bad inning where he gives up a key home run. That was in the 6th, and it tied the game. But in the bottom of the 6th, Miley issued a leadoff walk to DJ LeMahieu, and another walk to Aaron Judge. Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Luke Voit singled to load the bases with nobody out.
Astro manager A.J. Hinch made a pitching change, bringing Will Harris in. Giancarlo Stanton, whose batting average was then .217, came up with a clutch at-bat for the 1st time all season (remember, he's been injured for most of it), by singling home Judge and LeMahieu. Harris got the next 3 batters out, but it was 4-2 Yankees.
If this were Match Game, this would be the point at which we'd be saying that Yankee manager Aaron Boone is so dumb! (How dumb is he?) He's so dumb, he brought Jonathan Holder in, with a 2-run lead and 9 outs to go. Holder has been mostly unreliable. This time, he got the 1st 2 outs, then allowed single, single, home run. 5-4 Astros.
A pitcher who blows a lead should be automatically ineligible for the win, every bit as much as a starting pitcher who doesn't go 5 full innings is. But with 1 out in the bottom of the 7th, Austin Romine hit a home run to tie the game.
LeMahieu was up next, and beat out an infield single. He advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch. With 1st base open, Judge was walked intentionally to set up the double play. Voit grounded to 1st, moving them over. And Stanton singled them home.
Adam Ottavino pitched a hitless 8th, and, giving Aroldis Chapman a night off, Boone sent Zack Britton out to pitch the 9th. He walked the bases loaded, putting the tying and potential winning runs on, but stranded them all to end it. Yankees 7, Astros 5. WP: Holder (5-2). SV: Britton (3). LP: Ryan Pressly (1-1).
After the game, Boone said of Stanton, "I hope everyone takes note... Sometimes we forget what a good player he is. Again, I hope they saw those at-bats."
Good player? He's a one-dimensional player. Winning games with singles is rare for him. Nevertheless, it's good to see Boone standing up from his player. It's a good principle to have. He's Stanton on principle.
Voit also addressed the booing that Stanton gets: "I mean, you gotta give the guy a break. He's played, what, 5 games? You gotta get the feel back... He won MVP for a reason. It's nice having an MVP hit behind you."
With the win, and the losses by the Rays and the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees now lead the American League Eastern Division by 5 1/2 games over the Rays, 6 in the loss column; and by 8 games over The Scum, 9 in the loss column.
Is it too early to talk about a Magic Number to clinch the AL East? Yes. At least, rationally. But being rational all the time is no fun, so... It's 81: Any combination, the rest of the way, of Yankee wins ans Rays losses adding up to 81 wins the Division for the Yankees. In other words, all 30 teams start the season tied for 1st, with a Magic Number of 162, and 81 is half of that, and, now, the Yankees are halfway there.
The series concludes this afternoon. J.A. Happ starts against the probable Hall-of-Famer, Justin Verlander. This will be the last game between the Yankees and the Astros during the regular season. A Playoff matchup between the teams is still very possible.
It is also Old-Timers' Day. As usual, I am counting on the current Yankees to not embarrass the man who helped to build the legend. The ceremonies start at 11:30 AM, with the current players' game scheduled to start at 2:05 PM.