Yankees blow out Houston
NEW YORK Back in the Bronx, the big guys delivered.
Greeted by an array of “All Rise” signs in a ballpark that fits their style, Aaron Judge hit a three-run homer and made a pair of sparkling catches, leading CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees over the Houston Astros 8-1 Monday night and cutting their deficit to 2-1 in the AL Championship Series.
Todd Frazier hit a go-ahead, three-run homer into the short porch in right field in the second against Charlie Morton.
The 6-foot-7 Judge entered in a 4-for-31 (.129) post-season slump that included one home run, four RBIs and 19 strikeouts. The slugger capped a five-run fourth with a laser of a drive to left field off Will Harris and robbed Yuri Gurriel and Cameron Maybin of extrabase hits.
Sabathia, almost as big at 6foot-6, allowed three hits over six scoreless innings for his first post-season win in five years. The Yankees stopped a seven-game ALCS losing streak dating to Sabathia’s victory over Texas in 2010 - when Judge had just started his freshman year at Fresno State.
After a pair of 2-1 losses in Houston, the Yankees led 8-0 after four innings. The Yankees are 4-0 at home this post-season.
“Just the energy, the fans,” Sabathia said. “They’ve been bringing it every night in the playoffs and you can feed off of that.”
Houston scored on a basesloaded walk in the ninth before post-season star Jose Altuve grounded into a gameending double play with the bases loaded.
Sonny Gray starts Game 4 for New York in the best-ofseven series on 11 days’ rest Wednesday against Lance McCullers Jr.
Frazier got the Yankees rolling, taking an awkward hack at a low, outside fastball and slicing it into the seats.
“That was unorthodox, but I’ll take a hundred like that,” Frazier said. “The wind was going a little crazy.”
Judge used his height and long left arm to make a leaping catch with his left shoulder slamming into the right-field wall against Yuri Gurriel starting the fourth.
“He’ll go through a wall for you,” Frazier said.
Being a rookie, he politely waited outside the dugout for all the veterans to descend the steps after the third out - as he always does - then capped a five-run bottom half with a laser of a line drive that just cleared the left-field wall.
Then in the fifth, he sprinted into short right for a diving backhand catch on Cameron Maybin in the fifth.
On the first chilly night of the autumn with a game-time temperature of 57, Sabathia relied on the sharp, slow slider that has helped revive the former flame-thrower’s career.
Pitching with caution to Houston’s dangerous lineup, he walked four, struck out five and pitched shutout ball for the first time in 21 career post-season starts. During the regular season, he was 9-0 in 10 starts following Yankees’ losses.