Hinch: I’ll pull team from field
Objects thrown at players in Game 3
NEW YORK — Houston manager AJ Hinch said before Game 4 Thursday night that he would remove his team from the field if fans at Yankee Stadium again threw objects at his players.
Right fielder Josh Reddick said fans tossed water bottles, baseballs and other objects at him during Game 3 on Tuesday night.
“I will pull the team off the field if we get in that situation again where bottles are being thrown and balls are being thrown and it becomes unruly,” Hinch said. “There’s other ways to support your home team.”
New York fans erupted after a replay review changed Edwin Encarnacion’s infield hit leading off the eighth to a groundout. The Astros went on to win 4-1 and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven
series.
“You throw a baseball hard enough and hit somebody in the head when they’re not looking, it could do some damage to the player,” said Reddick, who homered off Luis Severino in the second inning.
Sanchez catches
While Yankees manager Aaron Boone wasn’t sure Wednesday what his lineup would look like for Game 4, there was one thing he was sure of.
Gary Sanchez would be behind the plate, whether many in the Bronx wanted it that way or not.
Boone doubled down on his defense of Sanchez after Game 4 was postponed Wednesday due to rain. Boone said his catcher has been “excellent” defensively, and he wouldn’t hesitate to start the twotime All-Star against the Astros.
New York lost to Houston 4-1 on Tuesday. One of the Astros’ runs scored when Sanchez couldn’t get in front of a wild fastball from left-hander Zack Britton with a man on third base, a play that prompted a lot of criticism soreness — a recurring problem this season.
“I feel like Gary has been back long enough now to certainly be in the flow and the rhythm of regular play,” Boone said.
Yankees pitchers have praised Sanchez’s defense this postseason.
“I know there’s been a narrative about his catching,” reliever Adam Ottavino said. “I thought he’s been pretty awesome the whole year.”
Torres is torrid
Gleyber Torres skied his third home run of the postseason in the eighth inning of Game 3. The star 22-year-old second baseman is hitting .417 (5-for12) with a 1.500 OPS in the ALCS.
“I think Gleyber clearly likes playing in these kind of games when it really matters,” Boone said.
“He has a lot of confidence in his ability. But I think the biggest thing is he’s controlled the strike zone. He’s not up there [saying] ‘I’ve got to do something great here.’ And against these pitchers that are ... the best at what they do, you’ve got to be able to control those situations even in the big moments.”