Aaron Boone: If Yankees meet Astros in playoffs, regular season won't matter

BALTIMORE — Aaron Boone only occasionally flashes to the media some of the on-field intensity he displays with regularity.

One of those times occurred late Thursday night after the Yankees were swept by the Astros in a doubleheader at Minute Maid Park. That gave the Astros the season series, 5-2, meaning if the teams finish tied for the best record in the American League, Houston will hold the tiebreaker for home-field advantage in the postseason.

Entering Friday, the Astros (61-32) had pulled within 2½ games of the Yankees (64-30), who had gone 15-14 beginning June 19. After the games of June 18, the Yankees (49-16) had a nine-game lead over the Astros (40-25).

After the doubleheader, Boone wasn’t the least bit interested in exploring the narrative that the Yankees, for all of their mostly tremendous play, still have work to do when it comes to overcoming the Astros, who beat them in the wild-card game in 2015, then took them out in the ALCS in 2017 and 2019.

“The narrative’s not going to change until you beat them in the playoffs, if that day comes,” Boone said. “We beat them four of six last year. Where’d that get us? It’s not going to matter until October. If we happen to come back here in October, we’re going to show up and we’re going to expect to win. We think we’re really good. They’re really good.”

Boone paused. “Don’t overstate it,” he added tersely of the narrative.

Looking big-picture, Boone is correct, of course. Baseball history is littered with examples of regular-season results not being the least bit predictive when it comes to the postseason. (An example: The 1988 Mets went 100-60 in the regular season, including 10-1 against the Dodgers, and then lost to Los Angeles in seven games in the NLCS.) Losing five of seven to the Astros will mean little should the teams meet in October as both clubs’ construction for that series almost assuredly will be different.

Domingo German, for instance, started Game 2 on Thursday, and there would be little chance of the righthander getting a start in an ALCS game. Aaron Judge was at DH for both games and Giancarlo Stanton didn’t start in Game 1.

A bizarre stat: In the seven games between the teams, there wasn’t a single pitch thrown with the Yankees holding a lead, as their only two wins came on walk-off hits by Judge on June 23 and June 26. . But while the Yankees did lose five games, two of them were one-run losses, two were two-run setbacks and one was a three-run loss. It’s not as if the Astros walked all over them.

Additionally, as Boone pointed out, the Yankees took four of six from the Astros last season and were summarily bounced by Boston in the wild-card game (the Astros made the World Series, losing to Atlanta in six games).

But it doesn’t mean this year’s regular-season results are 100% irrelevant.

The Astros again showed they’re not the least bit intimidated by the Yankees. While the Yankees, who lead MLB with 28 comeback victories, never think they’re out of a game, the Astros are equally firm in that belief.

A Houston pitching staff flush with confidence came away from the season series feeling even more so. Houston starters finished with a 1.91 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP against the Yankees, allowing an incredible 15 hits in 42 1⁄3 innings.

The teams could do battle on another front before the Aug. 2 trade deadline. Both have an interest in some of the same players, including Reds stud righthander Luis Castillo (who will cost a haul of prospects from whichever team obtains him, and his sweepstakes are not limited to the Yankees and Astros).

Still, nothing that happened in June or July will be remembered come the playoffs.

“Ultimately, we may have to slay the dragon, right?” Boone said. “If it comes down to it in October, the proof will be in the pudding. Do we get it done, and then you can have your way and say [these losses] did affect us or it didn’t. I get it.

“Great team. We’re a great team. A lot of history. I get the storyline and the excitement around it. We get excited around it when we get to play another great team, but it’s not going to matter if we won seven or lost seven [in the regular season] if we play them in the postseason. That’s what’s going to matter.”