Yankees slip past Astros in series opener
Anthony Volpe of the Yankees follows through on his sixth-inning RBI single against the Astros at Yankee Stadium on Thursday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
As Aaron Boone likes to say a lot, it was all right in front of the Yankees on Thursday night in the Bronx.
Toronto had lost in the afternoon, so the Yankees had a chance to move to within 2½ games of the final AL wild card spot.
But also right in front of the Yankees: Their perennial postseason vanquishers, the Houston Astros, for the clubs’ first meeting of 2023.
After jumping out to an early lead and then watching the Astros tie the game, the Yankees won, 4-3, thanks to Anthony Volpe’s two-out RBI single in the sixth.
With their second straight win, the Yankees did move closer to Toronto in the wild card race in front of a crowd of 44,019 who came out to boo Jose Altuve and to see if the Yankees can get back in the race, probably in that order.
To the delight of those fans, Clay Holmes (15th save) retired Altuve on a first-pitch 6-4 forceout with two men on to end the game.
“Good to get that one, especially coming off a good effort [Wednesday] night,” Boone said. “So to string two games together like that is nice.
The Astros swept the Yankees in the ALCS last season. A victory in August doesn’t make that go away, but it still felt important to the Yankees.
“It’s hard to ignore what they did to us last year,” said Clarke Schmidt, who allowed two runs in five innings. “It’s something that when you don’t get the job done and you lost to a team like that on a grand stage, it obviously stings a little bit. So to come out here and get a win on the first night’s a big deal. We’re trying to put it to ‘em this series. So just continue to pick ourselves up and move on to the next day. It’s a big thing for us.”
With the game tied at 3 in the sixth, Harrison Bader drew a two-out walk, stole second and scored the go-ahead run when Volpe lined a single to right. It was Volpe’s first taste of Yankees-Astros.
“The fans were definitely into it,” the rookie said. “It was awesome. Great atmosphere and I think we definitely fed off it.”
The Yankees struck first with a three-run first inning thanks to home runs from Giancarlo Stanton and Billy McKinney off Houston starter Cristian Javier.
Stanton hit a massive, 430-foot two-run bomb to the leftfield bleachers for his 16th home run and second in two nights. McKinney immediately followed with a 401-foot shot to right for his sixth home run to make it 3-0.
But the Astros got two runs back in the second. After getting three runs of support, Schmidt walked Yordan Alvarez, gave up a single to Jose Abreu and then threw a wild pitch that moved both into scoring position.
That proved key when, after a strikeout, the Astros got a run on a grounder to third and then a second on Martin Maldonado’s two-out RBI single.
Schmidt was removed after 82 pitches to start the sixth. Wandy Peralta immediately gave up a leadoff, game-tying home run to Kyle Tucker.
The Yankees survived an odd misplay in the seventh. With a runner on first and one out, Altuve hit a squibber to the right side of the mound that was fielded by eventual winning pitcher Michael King (3-4), who turned to throw to second, only to find the base unoccupied. King threw to Volpe, who was nearly on the outfield grass. Volpe fired to first, but too late to get Altuve. The miscue was scored a fielder’s choice. Boone later said Volpe was supposed to be at the bag.
King recovered, though, to get Jeremy Pena to ground into an inning-ending 5-5-3 double play.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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