Raucous home crowd helps Yankees take ALCS lead
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.
Just days ago, Houston was up two games to none 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 the 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 6-2 with a 1.09 ERA in eight career starts against New York, including a pair of scoreless outings in playoff wins.
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 Greg 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 third-base line and past a diving Alex Bregman. The Yankees added two runs in the fifth to chase Keuchel.
With the stands pulsating, fans reveled in his slow walk to the dugout as the Yankee Stadium sound system blared “Goodbye To You” by Scandal.
“When you play at home, things like this happen and that’s why it’s so tough to win on the road in the playoffs,” Keuchel said. “New York is no joke. Yankee Stadium is a tough place to play and it was rockin’ these three games, but it’s going to be rockin’ on Friday for us (in Game 6).”