Last night, for the 1st time since stealing the 2019 American League Pennant from the Yankees, the Houston Astros came to Yankee Stadium to face Yankee Fans.
They knew it would be rough. They may not have understood how rough. They don't know that a New Yorker can hold a grudge for a long, long time. Ask Peter O'Malley.
And the game ended as perhaps the most satisfying regular-season Yankee game since September 27, 2009, when the Bronx Bombers clinched the AL Eastern Division title by beating the Boston Red Sox, a partial (though hardly full) revenge for 2004 and 2007.
Domingo German started, and looked more like he did in his 1st 2 starts of the season than in his next 2. In the top of the 1st inning, he gave up a home run to Alex Bergman, one of the Astros who pisses Yankee Fans off the most, along with Jose Altuve.
But DJ LeMahieu led off the bottom of the 1st by singling up the middle off probable future Hall-of-Famer Zack Greinke. And then Giancarlo Stanton hit one halfway up the Metro-North Hudson Line. The joke was easy: "Tonight was the night that Stanton became a True Yankee."
We all wanted to blow these bastards out of the water. And it soon looked like we might. Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres drew walks, sandwiching a Gio Urshela single, loading the bases with nobody out. But Clint Frazier grounded into a double play. It brought a run home, but it would be the only run after the Stanton homer, as Aaron Hicks grounded out. 3-1 Yankees, but it could have been so much more.
German retired the Astros in order in the 2nd and the 3rd, but faltered in the 4th, allowing home run, strikeout, single, double, to tie the game at 3-3. He was a little shaky again in the 5th, but worked out of it. Lucas Luetge came in to pitch the 6th, and got a double play to get out of a minor jam.
Greinke had already thrown a lot of pitches, and was replaced for the bottom of the 6th by Brandon Bielak. Bielak is from Sayreville, Middlesex County, New Jersey, and as a graduate of East Brunswick High School, just 2 towns to the west of it, I can tell you that there is a rivalry there. Strike one. Only he didn't go to Sayreville War Memorial High School. He went to St. Joseph's High School in Metuchen, which also has a nasty rivalry with EBHS. Strike two. And he pitches for the Astros. Strike three. Boo.
Cliche Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Torres, who has really responded to his criticism of not that long ago, including starting a brilliant double play later in this game, walked to open the inning. Frazier popped up, and it looked like another opportunity might be wasted. But Hicks singled. Kyle Higashioka grounded out, but Rougned Odor walked to load the bases.
LeMahieu grounded to 3rd. It was a tough play for Bregman, and DJLM might have beaten it out, no matter what. But Bregman threw it away, clearing the bases and putting LeMachine on 3rd. Stanton singled him home.
The rest of the game was basically one long chance to give the Astros the business. Altuve, in particular, was abused, often profanely. Fans held up signs with asterisks, trash cans, and the word "CHEAT" and variations thereof drawn on them.
Houston, you have a problem. It was time for the Yankees, and their fans, to mess with Texas.
Remembering Altuve's Pennant-winning walkoff in 2019, a lot of fans wanted Aroldis Chapman to end the game with a strikeout. Instead, Aaron Boone saw the 4-run lead, and let Chad Green close it out. Yankees 7, Astros 3. WP: Luetge (2-0). No save. LP: Bielak (1-1).
The series continues tonight. Jordan Montgomery starts against Luis Garcia. Come on you Pinstripes!