THE YANKEES ARE SEEING DOUBLES AFTER BIG EIGHTH
Judge and Sanchez hammer the Astros to knot up the ALCS, Rob Longley writes.
Hot damn. The damn Yankees did it again on Tuesday in another remarkable evening of Bronx brilliance.
With a dramatic 6-4 comeback win over the Houston Astros, the best-of-seven ALCS is now square at two wins apiece.
The New York Yankees were once again led by Aaron Judge, who got things started with a solo homer in the seventh and was central to a massive four-run eighth in which he contributed an RBI double to tie the game.
With Game 5 at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, the momentum has swung decidedly in the favour of New York, especially now that Judge has caught fire and the rest of the offence is coming along for the joyride.
Played out before a raucous crowd, the Yankees once again showed there is no quit in them. They did it when they fell behind 3-0 to the Twins in the AL wild card game and again when they dropped the first two games of the ALDS series versus the Cleveland Indians.
They have fought themselves back against an Astros team that won 101 times in the regular season and captured the first two games back in Houston.
“Sometimes I feel like we like playing with our backs against the wall,” Judge said. “It’s kind of crazy.”
Judge had 21 strikeouts and a .147 average in the post-season going into Tuesday, but with a homer in each of the past two games he is swinging with renewed confidence, which is bad news for an Astros team that seemingly had things in hand after winning two in Houston.
They will certainly be regretting the one that got away on Tuesday. After the top of the seventh, the ’Stros held a 4-0 lead, thanks in large part to a three-run double by Yuli Gurriel in the previous inning.
The Yankees stretched in the middle of the seventh and came out swinging for the win.
“We never felt we were out of it because we were still within grand slam range,” Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier said. “With this crowd and this atmosphere and the way we came back, people will be talking about this game for a long time.”
KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
As much as it was a big night for Judge, the Gary Sanchez twoRBI double broke a big slump — and the tie, as it supplied the deciding runs.
Suddenly, a Yankees offence that sputtered through the first two games of the series is ripping it up with 14 runs in the two games in the Bronx.
“He’s a really good hitter,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Sanchez, who was at DH on Tuesday for a mental break. “I’ve seen hall of famers struggle for a series or two in the playoffs — it’s just part of it. But eventually it’s going to turn for him and it did tonight in a big way.”
Girardi also applauded the patience of Judge, who had a walk to go with his homer and double. The latter was a ball he stuck with low in the strike zone.
“I’ve been in that situation in my head a thousand times, through the minor leagues, batting practice, cage work,” Judge said. “But the dreams aren’t the same as reality. To be out there with that crowd and that atmosphere it’s unbelievable.”
EIGHTH IS ENOUGH
The Astros went into the eighth inning with a two-run lead and left with a two-run deficit they could not resolve.
“It was rough,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “It was not a great visual from my side of the dugout. We just couldn’t get the inning to end.”
The immediate consolation for the Astros is that they will have Game 1 winner Dallas Keuchel on the mound for Game 5 followed by Justin Verlander back home in Houston on Friday.
“There’s a little bit of anxiousness, but I don’t know too many players that don’t have some anxiousness in October,” Hinch said. “The series wasn’t over after two games. It’s certainly not over after four.”