Yankees squander late lead
Britton allows 2 in 7th to tie it, Ottavino yields winner in 8th
Jose Altuve hit a long home run and Carlos Correa’s broken-bat RBI infield single in the eighth inning helped the Houston Astros rally past the New York Yankees 4-3 on Monday night for their fourth straight victory.
Aaron Judge homered off Astros ace Justin Verlander as New York built a 3-1 lead in a matchup between AL powerhouses that met in the 2017 league championship series. Robinson Chirinos tied it with a two-run double in the seventh against Zack Britton.
The game was tied with one out in the eighth when Adam Ottavino (1-1) walked Alex Bregman before a single by Michael Brantley sent Bregman to third. Correa then shattered his bat on a grounder that dribbled down the first base line, allowing Bregman to score.
The Astros trailed by two and had runners at first and second with two outs in the seventh when Chirinos doubled off
Britton. The burly 5-foot11, 225-pound Tyler White scored from first when he slid in just ahead of the tag by catcher Gary Sanchez.
Ryan Pressly (1-0) extended his scoreless streak to 221/3 innings with a perfect eighth to get the win and Roberto Osuna pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save.
Correa and Chirinos finished with two hits each.
Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka allowed just one earned run in his third straight start, scattering three hits over six innings.
Verlander yielded seven hits and three runs in six innings.
The Yankees loaded the bases with one out in the third with two walks and a single by Brett Gardner. Luke Voit’s single gave New York a 1-0 lead, but Verlander retired the next two to limit the damage.
Houston tied it in the fourth when the 5-foot-6 Altuve sent a drive 448 feet onto the train tracks above left field.
After Judge’s homer in the fifth, DJ Lemahieu doubled with two outs in the sixth and the Yankees padded their lead when Clint Frazier hit an RBI single off the left field wall to make it 3-1.
Yankees: Manager Aaron Boone said lefthander CC Sabathia came out of his fourth minor league start well on Sunday and he’ll return to the rotation at some point this weekend . ... Reliever Dellin Betances (shoulder) threw to hitters and is scheduled to pitch a simulated game Thursday . ... Ace righthander Luis Severino is returning to New York to have more tests on his injured shoulder. Boone says Severino isn’t where he wants to be and the team wants an examination to determine why he isn’t progressing as expected.