Even though Astros ace Gerrit Cole tied his career-high in walks allowed Tuesday night, he still pitched well enough to hold down the Yankees.
The Houston Astros beat the New York Yankees on the road in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series Tuesday evening by a score of 4-1. Gerrit Cole earned the win, Luis Severino was tagged with the loss, and Astros closer Roberto Osuna earned the save.
The Astros got to Yankees starter Luis Severino early in the game, running him up to 36 pitches in the first inning. Houston capitalized on this with a solo home run off the bat of Jose Altuve, a Yuli Gurriel single, and walks to Michael Brantley and Yordan Alvarez.
The Yankees responded right back in the bottom half of that first inning with a leadoff single from D.J. LeMahieu and Aaron Judge. The first of Cole’s five walks was allowed to Gleyber Torres, loading the bases and posing enough of a threat to prompt a first-inning mound visit.
That threat would not last long, though, as Didi Gregorius grounded out on the first pitch he saw. Gerrit Cole threw 14 pitches in his first inning of work.
In the top of the second, Josh Reddick added a solo shot of his own to extend the Astros’ lead to two runs, mounting more pressure on the Yankees and Severino. The Yankees starter was removed from the mound after 4.1 innings of work, allowing five hits, three walks, and two runs alongside six strikeouts. His pitch total finished at 97.
In three of the first four innings, the Yankees had multiple baserunners on, answering the pressure the Astros put on them with two early runs. However, Cole settled in after allowing those baserunners, striking out Aaron Judge to end the second inning and getting LeMahieu to fly out to end the fourth.
An 18-minute delay occurred between the bottom of the fourth and the top of the fifth. Original home plate umpire Jeff Nelson took a foul ball off his mask in the top of the fourth, yet stayed in after shrugging it off. Nelson was checked on at the conclusion of the fourth and would be removed from his role. The new home plate umpire would be Kerwin Danley, who originally was the second base umpire.
Postseason baseball and delays have had their share of superstitious relations in the past (i.e. Game 7 of the 2016 World Series), but it seemed to not affect this game. Chad Green was put in to replace Severino, who allowed a single to Brantley and a walk to Alex Bregman. Green buckled down and recorded the final two outs of the inning.
The most high-pressure situation Gerrit Cole faced came in the bottom of the fifth. It had been 32 minutes since he last threw a pitch, but he quickly recorded two outs. He then allowed a double to Edwin Encarnacion, followed by a walk to Gleyber Torres. The next batter would be Gregorius, who swung at the first pitch he saw (a middle-low pitch) and connected for a drive to right field.
The fans rose from their seats. Cheers rang around Yankee Stadium. Didi put a charge into that pitch, only for Josh Reddick to track it down and catch it, just feet from leaving the field and putting the Yankees on top. Astros fans felt relief, and Yankees fans continued to feel frustrated.
The Astros later added two runs in the seventh off of a wild pitch from Yankees lefty Zack Britton and a sacrifice fly from Yuli Gurriel. Their star offensive players included two hits from Altuve and Brantley, and two walks from Bregman.
The Yankees found the score column when red-hot Gleyber Torres sent a Joe Smith pitch into the right field seats in the bottom of the eighth. In the at-bat prior, the Astros successfully challenged a single from Encarnacion, reversing the call to a groundout. That likely would have meant another run for the Yankees had Houston not challenged the call.
Closer Roberto Osuna worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth and secured the win for Houston. They were originally down 1-0 in the series after a 7-0 loss in Game 1.
As mentioned earlier, Cole allowed five walks, tying his career high. He finished with a quality start, as per usual for him. Seven innings, seven strikeouts, four hits and zero runs-allowed filled Cole’s stat line.
What do the New York Yankees have to do to get back on track in the series? They have to find the hitting that they had in Game 1. The Yankees had 13 hits in the first game, seven of which came off of Zack Greinke.
The Yankees also need to quickly figure out which pitchers can hold down this Astros offense, which is not going to be any easy task. Nine Yankees pitchers were used in Game 2, none of which logged more than 2.1 innings of work. That has to change, especially after six Yankees pitchers were used in Game 3.
What do the Houston Astros have to do to head to their second World Series in 3 years? They have to continue to score early. When that pressure is put on the Yankees and their starters, we have seen that manager Aaron Boone will pull those starters early and go to the bullpen, and the Astros hitters seem to do reasonably well against Yankees relievers.
Rumors of a bullpen game from both teams for Game 4 swirl, but if the Astros can find a pitcher not named Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander or even Zack Greinke to hold the Yankees from scoring, their offense should guide the team to more wins. They are just two wins away from the Fall Classic.
The Houston Astros and the New York Yankees meet in New York on Wednesday night for Game 4. First pitch is slated for 8:08 p.m. EST.
