The New York Yankees couldn’t cash-in on scoring opportunities against the Houston Astros and fall for the third consecutive night.
- Houston Astros: 5 (25-11)
- New York Yankees: 1 (21-12)
- American League, FINAL, Box Score
- Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
The New York Yankees were unable to cash in on nine opportunities with runners in scoring position and fell to the Houston Astros for the second consecutive game by a score of 5-1.
Houston drew first blood after Yankees’ starter Jordan Montgomery notched a scoreless three innings to begin the contest. After giving up two singles to Carlos Correa and Marwin Gonzalez, former Yankee catcher Brian McCann tattooed an 84 mph changeup from the rookie left-hander and gave the Astros a 3-0 lead with a three-run, second-deck shot to right.
They weren’t quite done, as in the top of the fifth inning, Correa blooped a two-out RBI single to right field to cash in on a leadoff double by George Springer to make it 4-0, Astros.
Montgomery would finish his day with four earned runs over six innings of work with seven strikeouts on 91 pitches.
He became the fourth starter in Yankees history to strike out seven or more batters in three of his first six career starts — joining Masahiro Tanaka (five in 2014), Orlando Hernandez (four in 1998) and Al Leiter (three in 1987).
Unfortunately for the 25-year-old, Lance McCullers Jr. fired six innings of shutout ball while striking out seven. Relievers Will Harris, Luke Gregerson and James Hoyt then posted three innings of stellar relief, despite a ninth-inning RBI single by Didi Gregorius, to defeat the Yankees — who finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position — by a score of 5-1.
Hello Darkness (McCann) My Old Friend:
When McCann, who spent three seasons with the Yankees from 2014-17, launched his three-run jack in the fourth, he extended his lead for the most home runs at Yankee Stadium since the start of the 2014 season.
McCann has hit 47 in that span, ahead of Carlos Beltran (35), Mark Teixeira (34) and Brett Gardner (29). The only thing that is surprising is that Gardner is ahead of guys like Chase Headley and Alex Rodriguez and that two of the top-2 played against the Yankees on Friday.
What’s Next:
The Yankees and Astros will hopefully play the third game of the four-game set on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. The reason I say “hopefully” is because the Bronx is expecting 1-to-2 inches of rain tomorrow afternoon.
23-year-old Luis Severino is slated to make his seventh start of the 2017 season. The righty owns the sixth-lowest WHIP in the Majors this season (0.91) and is tied for the eighth-lowest opponents’ batting average (.200, 29-for-145) while completing at least seven innings pitched in four of his last five starts.
First pitch is scheduled to come your way at 1:05 p.m. ET from the Bronx. It will be televised on the YES Network or can’t be caught on the radio at WFAN 660/101.9 FM.