Yanks solve Keuchel, near Series
New York chases Astros ace, takes 3-2 lead in ALCS
NEW YORK — This time, it was Masahiro Tanaka who was untouchable on the mound.
And when the New York Yankees sent Houston ace Dallas Keuchel to an early exit, their rollicking crowd let loose with a cathartic roar that must have boomed all over the Bronx.
One more big win, and these Yankees are World Series-bound.
Tanaka pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, and New York finally solved a longtime nemesis at just the right moment, beating Keuchel and the Astros 5-0 on Wednesday for a 3-2 lead in the American League Championship Series.
“It’s a special feeling,” manager Joe Girardi said.
Gary Sanchez hit an RBI single off Keuchel and later homered to help the wildcard Yankees win for the third straight day at home, moving within one victory of their first pennant since 2009 and record 41st overall.
The teams head back to Houston for Game 6 on Friday, when Justin Verlander and the reeling Astros will try to regain their footing following an off day and force a decisive Game 7. Luis Severino is scheduled to start for New York.
Just days ago, Houston was up 2-0 and appeared to be closing in on its second World Series appearance. But the Astros, like defending AL champion Cleveland before them, have been unable to put away these poised Yankees, who improved to 6-0 at home in this postseason in front of their cheering, chanting fans.
“It’s been unbelievable. I haven’t seen anything like it in Major League Baseball,” New York veteran Chase Headley said. “Reminds me of college football games. They’re going crazy the entire game. It’s a huge advantage for us.”
Aaron Judge, Greg Bird and Didi Gregorius also delivered big hits as New York chased Keuchel in the fifth and handed him his first postseason loss. Keuchel had been Yankees kryptonite, entering the game 6-2 with a 1.09 ERA in eight career starts against New York, including two scoreless outings in playoff wins.
Both of those came at the expense of Tanaka, who lost 3-0 to Keuchel in the 2015 AL wildcard game at Yankee Stadium and 2-1 in Game 1 of this series. The ace lefty and 2015 Cy Young Award winner with the long, bushy beard entered 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 26 2/3 postseason innings.
But this night belonged to Tanaka and the Baby Bombers.
New York finally broke through against Keuchel with two outs in the second, when Starlin Castro doubled to deep left-center and scored on Bird’s sharp single. The sellout crowd of 49,647 almost sounded surprised by the hit, big enough for Bird to flash both thumbs down, doubling up on the Yankees’ playful sign to each other for clutch swings.
“The most frustrating part is the fact that I didn’t pick the guys up, and they were looking toward me to kind of saddle up and get this thing back going again,” Keuchel said. “That’s a talented group over there and 1 through 9 right now the bats have woken up, and it’s quite a challenge.”
In the third, Judge grounded an RBI double just inside the thirdbase line and past a diving Alex Bregman. Brett Gardner sped all the way around from first and scored with a headfirst slide.
Bregman’s throwing error on an infield single by Headley, who had three hits in the No. 9 spot, aided the Yankees in the fifth. Keuchel walked Judge with two outs before Sanchez lined a run-scoring single into the leftfield corner.
Going into that at-bat, Sanchez was 1 for 16 with seven strikeouts in the series.