Yankees stave off elimination

NEW YORK — DJ LeMahieu drove Justin Verlander’s second pitch over the wall. Then Aaron Hicks sent the fans at Yankee Stadium into a frenzy with a three-run homer off the foul pole later in the first inning.

And just like that, the Bronx Bombers were back — in the game, and in this matchup of powerhouses.

A day after a brutal loss, and with little margin for more errors, the Yankees played like a 103-win team. James Paxton chilled the Astros’ bats and the bullpen followed with shutdown relief for a 4-1 victory Friday night, cutting the Yankees’ American League Championship Series deficit to 3-2.

“I wasn’t ready to go home yet,” Paxton said, “so I wanted to go out and give my team everything I had and just battle away.”

Now the teams will rush to Texas, where the series resumes Saturday night without a day off. With pitching plans disrupted by a rainout earlier this week, both teams are expected to go all-bullpen. But Gerrit Cole, 19-0 since May, looms as the Astros’ starter Sunday if the Yankees manage to extend the series to the seven-game limit.

“We’ve just got to go back home and finish the job,” the Astros’ Carlos Correa said.

After lasting just 2⅓ innings in Game 2, Paxton struck out nine in six innings, allowing one earned run, four hits and four walks.

Zack Britton retired Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman to escape trouble after the Astros put two runners on in the seventh against Tommy Kahnle, then struck out two in a perfect eighth. Aroldis Chapman finished with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Paxton outpitched Verlander, who allowed a pair of first-inning homers for the first time in 28 postseason starts and gave up four runs in an inning for the first time since the Astros acquired him from the Tigers in August 2017.

“Fastball command wasn’t very good, and the slider was just hanging,” Verlander said.

Verlander retired 10 in a row after Hicks’ homer and wound up allowing five hits in seven innings with nine strikeouts and no walks.

Sabathia done

CC Sabathia dislocated his left shoulder while pitching in Game 4, ending the 19-season career of the 39-year-old Yankees lefthander, who is retiring. ✶