There have been a few games in which the Yankees had an emotional clincher in an earlier round where they could have been expected to lose Game 1 of the next series, and did. Game 5 of this year's American League Division Series was no exception: I did not have much confidence that they would win Game 1 of the AL Championship Series, halfway across the country, less than 24 hours later, against the known cheats who are the Houston Astros, a team that has been stuck in the Yankees' heads.
Harrison Bader gave the Yankees an early 1-0 lead, with a home run in the top of the 2nd inning. The Astros tied it in the bottom of the 2nd. It was still 1-1 in the bottom of the 5th. Jameson Taillon started for the Yankees, and was pitching well, getting that cheating midget José Altuve to ground out to lead off the inning. (Yes, I know: "Midget" is now considered offensive; and, at 5-foot-6, Altuve doesn't meet the medical definition of one, anyway.)
But Taillon gave up a double to Jeremy Peña. It was only his 67th pitch of the game, but, as he so often does, manager Aaron Boone panicked, and he brought Clarke Schmidt in to pitch. Schmidt was shaky, loading the bases with walks before getting out of it. And in the 6th, Schmidt gave up home runs to Yuli Garriel and Chas McCormick. "Turn your sets off right there," as former WCBS-Channel 2 sports anchor Warner Wolf would have said.
Boone brought Lou Trivino in to finish the 6th without further damage, and he did. He should have left Trivino in to pitch the 7th. He didn't: He brought in Frankie Montas. As Vince Lombardi would have said, "What the hell's goin'on out here?" On his 3rd pitch, Montas served up a meatball to Peña, making it 4-1 Astros.
Anthony Rizzo hit a home run in the 8th, followed by a single by Giancarlo Stanton and a walk by Josh Donaldson. But Matt Carpenter struck out to end the inning, and the Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the 9th. Astros 4, Yankees 2.
In order to win this series, and thus win the Pennant, the Yankees must win at least 1 game in Houston. They have another chance tonight, with Luis Severino starting against Framber Valdez. This is the biggest game of the Yankees' season. Win it, and there will be bigger games to follow. Lose it, and it will almost certainly be another "Wait 'til next year."