Yankees held to three hits in shutout loss to Astros in ALCS Game 3

The Yankees’ latest pick-’em-out-of-a-hat lineup for this American League Championship Series had even less success than the ones trotted out for Games 1 and 2. As a result, they are nine innings from another cold winter arriving far sooner than they expected.

After totaling nine hits in the first two games at Minute Maid Park, the Yankees managed only three against Cristian Javier and five relievers in a 5-0 loss to the Astros in Game 3 in front of 47,569 at the Stadium, many of whom spent the later innings serenading the home team with boos.

Nestor Cortes, the Yankees’ most consistent starter all season, will try to extend the series to a fifth game Sunday night when he takes the mound against curveball specialist Lance McCullers Jr.

“We’ve had our backs against the wall all year and even in the postseason, especially when we went down [2-1] to Cleveland,’’ Aaron Judge said. “We can’t look too far ahead. We have to focus on a big Game 4 coming up here tomorrow and have the fans with us the whole game and take care of business.”

Said Anthony Rizzo: “Our backs are against the wall now. As a competitor and as a baseball player, it sucks, but tomorrow we have another game . . . Obviously, this isn’t ideal, but we just have to win tomorrow. It sucks tonight, it’s going to suck, it’s going to sting, but tomorrow we have to figure out a way to win.”

Only one team out of 39 has ever blown a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series — hello, 2004 Yankees — but Astros Game 1 starter Justin Verlander isn’t thinking that way.

“All the guys, especially guys who have been here, are just preaching to keep our foot on the gas,’’ Verlander said. “You never know what can happen. Playoffs is a funny thing. Right now, we obviously have some momentum. We’ve been playing good baseball. But zero complacency. That’s kind of the theme. Just come here tomorrow and try to win a game like we’re down 3-0.”

The Yankees struck out 11 times in Game 3 after 17 in Game 1 and 13 in Game 2. Before Matt Carpenter and Harrison Bader contributed two-out singles in the ninth inning, the Yankees were 10-for-91 in the series. Through three games, they have scored only four runs and are 12-for-94 with 41 strikeouts. They have a .128/.212/.223 slash line.

Should the Yankees’ hitters be blamed or the Houston pitchers credited? “I think it’s a mixture of both,’’ Josh Donaldson said. “I think they’re good, you can’t take anything away from them. But at the end of the day, we feel like we have a lineup that’s capable of doing it.”

The Yankees haven’t shown that against Houston at any point this season. The Yankees scored 22 runs in seven games against the Astros in the regular season, going 33-for-219 (.151) with 67 strikeouts. With the exception of Aaron Judge’s two-walk-off hits, they never led during any of the seven games. In this series, they have led after only one half-inning in Game 1, and the Astros quickly tied it.

The Yankees have won only two of 10 games against Houston in 2022. Most of the games have been close, but they have scored only 13 runs in the eight losses.

“It’s a really good pitching staff, [but] we’ve got to find a way,’’ Aaron Boone said. “We know what we’re up against. We know what they’re capable of. So whether it’s taking advantage of those times when you do get a mistake or at certain times going and hunting down and trying to take a strength away of theirs in a certain situation and really look for and attack a certain pitch in a situation, we got to find a way. So however you want to analyze it, I mean, we’ve got to find a way right now.”

Gerrit Cole, who had been 4-1 with a 3.21 ERA in six career postseason starts as a Yankee — including 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA in his team’s five-game victory over the Guardians in the Division Series — allowed five runs (three earned) and five hits in five innings-plus. All five runs were driven in by hitters 7-9.

Two of the runs came after centerfielder Harrison Bader dropped a routine fly ball for what should have been the third out of the second inning (Judge ran in front of him at the last second and appeared to distract Bader).

Cole responded by extending the ball toward Bader and saying ''I got you!'' with an emphatic nod, but he couldn't deliver on that promise. Three pitches later, Chas McCormick followed the error with a 335-foot two-run homer that skipped off the top of the rightfield wall and went into the stands, making it 2-0.

“We’re both going for it, both calling for it, and then at the last second I hear him,’’ Judge said. “I’m trying to get out of the way so I think I definitely messed him up on that play. I have to take responsibility for that. He’s the centerfielder. When he calls it, I have to drop and get out of the way.”

Cole departed with the bases loaded and none out in the sixth, and Lou Trivino allowed all three inherited runners to score on Trey Mancini’s sacrifice fly and Christian Vazquez’s two-run single. Cole allowed five hits, walked two and struck out seven.

Javier, who struck out 13 in seven innings in combining with Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly to no-hit the Yankees at the Stadium on June 25, allowed one hit and three walks in 5 1⁄3 innings, striking out five.  

Rizzo walked with one out in the sixth and Astros manager Dusty Baker brought in Neris to face Judge. He struck out on three pitches and, for the second time this postseason, heard some boos from the Stadium crowd. 

“You definitely understand their frustration,’’ Judge said, “but this is a big Game 4 coming up. Even if we get down, stick with us and [we’ll] do our thing. I understand why there’s boos and why there’s yelling at times. We have to pick it up as a team.”