HOME DOMINANCE CONTINUES
Yankees a win away from the World Series as teams head to Texas, Rob Longley writes.
It was just a brief snapshot amid the din at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night, but perhaps a clear indication of where this 2017 ALCS seems headed.
When New York catcher Gary Sanchez slaughtered a baseball, Astros left-fielder Marwin Gonzalez didn’t even look up into the New York night. Instead, he turned to face the infield and dropped his chin in disappointment.
There might have been more of that going on after the Astros were beat up badly, a crushing 5-0 loss to end a miserable threeday visit to the Bronx.
And now, at least a year ahead of schedule but with the exuberance of youth on their side, the Yankees are one win away from advancing to the World Series for the 41st time.
“This series isn’t over,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “This game is.”
On Friday, the second of Houston’s starting aces, Justin Verlander, will try to get the Astros back in it. The other starting stalwart, Dallas Keuchel, was touched up just enough on Wednesday, getting stung for four runs in 42/3 innings.
With the once-prolific Astros offence gone missing — and Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka pitching as good as he has — those four runs were going to be plenty for a Yankees team that seemed to get stronger in each of the past three games.
The latest win finished off a sweep of their home portion of the best-of-seven series. The Yankees are 6-0 at home this post-season.
“I’ve been incredibly impressed with the poise we have shown as a club,” said Chase Headley, the Yankees designated hitter who was three for four at the plate on Wednesday. “Guys trusted we could win that next game, and that’s been the whole philosophy.”
Two of the games in New York were blowouts — 5-0 and 8-1 — to go with Tuesday’s 6-4 comeback win.
“I give our guys a lot of credit,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “The leadership in that room … they know what they need to do and they’re ready to go every day.”
STOPPING THE STARTER
The Sanchez homer was the big blast of the night, but earlier the Yankees offence chipped away at Keuchel, who dominated the Yankees in Game 1 and owned a 1.09 ERA and 6-2 record in eight previous starts against them. So what changed?
“A couple of things,” Headley said. “Whenever you face a pitcher twice in a week, it makes it easier for the hitters. You get to see what his stuff is doing.
“The other thing is we had good team at-bats and took advantage of the few mistakes he made. That’s the only way you’re going to have success against a guy like that.”
The Yankees didn’t light Keuchel up — he managed eight strikeouts — but they used clutch at-bats to bring in a run in each of the second and third innings and two more in the fifth. The second-inning run, in which Greg Bird drove home Starlin Castro, was the first the Yanks scored off Keuchel in 142/3 playoff innings.
TOUGH TANAKA
The way starter Tanaka was pitching, the Yankees were aware they weren’t likely to need much offence. It was his second start of seven innings or more with no runs allowed this season and his ERA of 0.90 this post-season is the second-lowest in club postseason history, with a minimum of 19 innings pitched.
“I feel like I’m just keeping it really simple,” Tanaka said through a translator. “You go out there and you empty the tank.”
Starting with an outing against the Toronto Blue Jays on the final weekend of the regular season, Tanaka has thrown 22 consecutive scoreless innings at Yankee Stadium.
“He was special again,” Girardi said. “You look at his three starts in the playoffs — they’ve all been special, and we needed it.”
OFFENSIVE OFFENCE
So what happened to an Astros offence that led the major leagues in runs in the regular season with 896 but has been held to just nine in five games against the Yankees?
Hinch acknowledged some of the swagger has died down.
“We’ve lost a little bit of our offensive adjustments and a little bit of our offensive mojo,” Hinch said. “Some of that is the anxiety around pitches. It’s rare with all that offence that we’ve put up during the regular season.”
The struggles have been throughout the Astros order, starting with MVP candidate Jose Altuve, who was zero for 10 with three walks in the Bronx.
Overall, the Astros managed just 11 hits in their three road games and have scored nine runs total in the series.
“We’re going to go home where we hit well,” Hinch said. “We’ll try to make some adjustments — that’s what the playoffs are all about.”
Guys trusted we could win that next game, and that’s been the whole philosophy.