RELENTLESS ASTROS ON BRINK OF ALCS WIN
Boo birds come out as Bronx Bombers go meekly in Game 4
At their worst, they can be foul and merciless, hard even on their beloved home team.
At their best, the inhabitants of Yankee Stadium can create an atmosphere rarely matched in sports.
There were moments at both ends of the spectrum reached at full volume on a big Thursday night at the Bronx Zoo, but with a meek effort, the Yankees mostly frustrated a fan base that has come to expect deep and prosperous October runs.
An 8-3 loss to the relentless Houston Astros increased the visitor’s lead in the best-of-seven ALCS to 3-1, setting up a chance to clinch a trip to the World Series here tonight.
Start spreading the boos, baby. This one feels as good as over and the demanding Yankees faithful let it be known for much of the night.
As has been the case through all but the first game of this rapidly concluding series, the Yankees were unable to deliver clutch hitting, even as they had an early opportunity to get to Astros starter Zack Greinke.
In fact, the sullen Astros starter even gifted the home side a first-inning run when he issued a bases-loaded walk to Brett Gardner. Bedlam followed from the sellout crowd of 49,067 at the mammoth stadium, but the sentiment wouldn’t last for long.
Not with the tepid Yankees bats ruining the mood. And not with the supremely confident Astros not flinching in the slightest at the Bronx bedlam. So when leadoff man George Springer rocked a Masahiro Tanaka offering over the wall in left centre for a three-run homer in the third, it was the beginning of what felt like the end.
The Yankees’ struggles at the plate certainly altered the tenor inside the stadium as it shifted from raucous to restless and ultimately worse. Symptomatic of the woeful at-bats was in the fifth inning, when the Yankees had chased Greinke from the game and had the bases loaded for the second time in the night. Instead of delivering a clutch hit, Gleyber Torres and Edwin Encarnacion both struck out.
The boo birds were out in full force after that, with the recognition that the series was reaching the all but dead stage. Moments later it got much more grim when pistol-hot Carlos Correa cracked a three-run homer to double the lead to 6-1.
The analysis didn’t need to be too deep on this one — the Astros hit with runners on base while the Yankees did not, at least not until it was too late. The Astros had a pair of threerun homers. The Yankees twice ended innings with a bases-loaded strikeout.
Gary Sanchez, who was just 1-for-15 in the series with seven strikeouts woke up with a tworun homer in the sixth to at least temporarily pull the Yankees within reach.
Any hope from that was false, however. Magic can happen at Yankee Stadium or anywhere, but it’s getting increasingly difficult to imagine it unfolding now. Not with Justin Verlander up for Game 5 today, and should he falter, the unbeatable Gerrit Cole for Game 6 on Saturday back in Houston.
The fans, who spent much of the first couple innings on their feet, certainly seem to recognize it as well. While they were still amusing themselves with a “(Bleep) Altuve” chant out in the left field sections late in the game, the jeers grew louder for each passing Yankees strikeout and subsequent inability to generate a rally.
In what was quite simply a must-win game for the Yankees, they did little to serve notice there’s even a pulse left in the series. Not on a night they struck out 13 times, committed no less than four errors, and were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
GAME ON
Though they only had one run to show for it, the Yankees were able to do some minor damage on Greinke in the first, drawing three walks and chipping in with a bloop single. But when Sanchez went down swinging yet again, the missed opportunity felt like it was going to be trouble.