Salty fans give it to the Astros
Tuesday night crowd cranks up insults in win
NEW YORK — Vulgar and direct, Yankees fans cranked up a baleful cacophony for the scandal-tainted Houston Astros — thunderous heckles that belied their pandemic-restricted numbers.
“It sounded like a packed house,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said.
About the only thing louder? Maybe the ball coming off Giancarlo Stanton’s bat.
Boos and bad words streamed from the seats in the Astros’ return to the Bronx, and Stanton had a homer and four hits to help New York sate those spiteful fans in a 7-3 victory Tuesday night.
In Houston’s first visit to New York since the Astros’ sign-stealing scam was exposed, an error by third baseman Alex Bregman in the sixth inning let New York blow the game open.
“That was intense,” Stanton said. “I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of that. They brought something heavy.”
A sellout crowd of 10,850 skippedsubtlebarbsforsalty
language, aimedespeciallyat 2017 AL MVP Jose Altuve. Severalbroughtsignsinsulting the Astros, and security confiscated multiple inflatable trash cans.
“That was playoff energy, even though we’re not at full capacity,” Stanton said. “That was fun. They brought the noise.”
Bregman momentarily hushed those haters when he homered in the first inning off Domingo Germán, but Bregman’s miscue in the sixth with the game tied 3-3 doomed Houston.
He barehanded DJ LeMahieu’s bases-loaded slow roller but skipped his throw past first baseman Yuli Gurriel. Three runs scored on the play, the last Rougned Odor, whose left knee slammed into catcher Martín Maldonado’s head as he reached the plate. Odor appeared to be trying to avoid LeMahieu’s bat, which was lying in the right-handed batter’s box.
LeMahieu was credited with a single and an RBI, and one of the runs was unearned. Stanton
made it 7-3 when he scored LeMahieu with a single.
“Looking back now, I probably should’ve ate it,” Bregman said.
The Yankees have won nine of 12 and improved to 15-14, their first time over .500 since they were 3-2. Lucas Luetge (2-0) pitched a scoreless sixth and was credited with the win.
Brandon Bielak (1-1) took the loss.
New York players and coaches downplayed any lingering bitterness toward Houston ahead of this series, but their supporters had no such filter.
AMajor League Baseball investigation confirmed the Astros stole signs en route to a 2017 World Series title — they beat New York in a seven-game AL Championship Series on the way. Manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were fired in the fallout. Hinch, nowmanaging the Tigers, heard a few boos in his return to Yankee Stadium over the weekend.
Astros players, though, were granted immunity during the probe.