Textbook performance
Astros’ offense takes care of little things to back Cole in masterful Game 3 victory
NEW YORK — The transformation of the Astros’ offense was neither planned nor pretty. The indelible image is one of George Springer standing between third base and home plate awaiting an inevitable tag. Teammates applauded the act when it finally happened.
From the third-base dugout, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole was a spectator to his team’s seventh inning. A jacket covered his torso. Some doubt existed whether the next half-inning would be his. Houston’s bullpen, all too accustomed to protecting paltry postseason leads, was active.
“The approach from the offense from the get-go has been impeccable throughout the postseason,” Cole said. “A couple of lulls in the Tampa series with some really bad-ass relievers coming in, one after another, posed a bit of a challenge for us. And the Yankees give us the same threat.”
Playoff baseball will not produce prodigious numbers, not the ones Houston so routinely ran up throughout the regular season. The lineup led baseball with an .848 OPS and .274 batting average.
Nearing either figure feels impossible in pursuit of a World Series. Opposing pitching is too good. The Rays restricted run production and sapped power in the American League Division Series. New York is doing the same.
“We have to play our game,” Astros third baseman Alex Bregman said. “And that’s a combo of a lot of things, whether it’s speed, power, hitting line to line, working counts, or doing whatever it takes to provide offense for our pitching staff.”
Without a trademark inning to speak of in their seven previous postseason games, the Astros finally authored one in the eighth. They manufactured two runs in the seventh inning Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, doubling a tenuous two-run lead with a textbook display of the sport’s fundamentals.
Their 4-1 win over the Yankees in Game 3 of the AL Championship Series was a methodical deconstruction, a master class in postseason performance against an excellent team. In the absence of his most lethal arsenal, Cole threw seven scoreless innings.
The offense scattered seven hits but seized its most apparent opportunities. Yankees starter Luis Severino hung a slider on his third pitch of the afternoon. Jose Altuve annihilated it into the Astros’ bullpen for a solo home run. Josh Reddick replicated the scene one inning later, going deep to right field.
“Big boost, big boost of confidence,” said outfielder Reddick, who was benched for the first two games amid a lack of production. “As we saw, and as everyone has told me, that was a very easy swing. As we know at this ballpark, you don’t have to hit it very hard or very far to get it out.”
No team is more aware than the one that occupies it. The Yankees hit 306 home runs. They fear few pitchers, if any. Cole was not among them.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone proclaimed Monday they “expect to have success” against a man who has not lost since May 22 and set a division series record with 25 strikeouts. The Yankees attacked Cole early in counts, cognizant of the terror that awaits in a two-strike situation.
Singles from the first two hitters he faced were an indicator Cole would not carve this lineup with the ease he showed in September. For the first time since Aug. 1, he did not strike out 10 batters. He matched his career high with five walks.
“They’re a really good lineup,” Astros catcher Martin Maldonado said. “They take some good atbats, put good at-bats together and foul off pitches. That’s what they did all game.”
Cole induced just 13 swings and misses. Only three times in 34 regular-season starts did he get fewer. His four-seam fastball command wavered. Traffic was constant. New York placed runners in scoring position in four of his first five frames. Not once in six at-bats in those situations did Cole cede a hit.
“Sometimes it comes and goes, and tonight I was able to make pitches when I needed to,” Cole said. “And next time out, I’m pretty confident I’ll be better.”
Command of Cole’s curveball returned in the fifth. Feel for his fastball started to reappear, too. Three of his seven strikeouts arrived during his final two innings.
“That’s one of his best qualities. When he doesn’t have a pitch or doesn’t have command, he finds a way to get the job done,” Bregman said. “We all can learn a lot from that.”
Finding a way befits Bregman and the Astros’ offense aptly. They hit .236 in five games against the Rays and, after Tuesday, are at a tepid .173 against the Yankees.
Springer’s malaise magnifies it. The sparkplug leadoff hitter is 4-for-33 in the postseason. Igniting him is the key to turning around the offense.
Houston does not need heroics like he has produced in prior playoff runs, just the Springer who posted numbers all regular season. Tuesday seemed a start. He finished 0-for-4 but made the game’s most meaningful contribution.
Springer led off the seventh inning of a series-turning game with a walk, then broke for second base on the first pitch to Altuve, who singled through a hole Springer’s aggression created.
“Altuve is just so good at that,” Cole said. “He can decide halfway to the plate where he’s going to place the ball. I’ve never seen that kind of talent before in my life, and I don’t know if I’ll ever see it again.”
Springer scurried easily to third. Michael Brantley loomed, and Boone went to his bullpen, offering Astros manager A.J. Hinch a rare opportunity.
He huddled with Springer and third base coach Gary Pettis on the infield grass while Zack Britton warmed. Britton is a soft-contact craver. The Yankees would play the infield in. Hinch instructed Springer to go on contact “until the ball stops you.”
Brantley bounced a grounder to Yankees first baseman DJ LeMahieu, who fielded it and charged toward Springer, who created a pickle.
“Prevent the double play,” Springer thought. “Stay in as long as I can.”
From between third and home, Springer waved Altuve around the bases to third. Brantley ran with his head up and took second. The Yankees were forced to intentionally walk Bregman and load the bases.
Britton uncorked a wild pitch to Yuli Gurriel, allowing Altuve to score. Gurriel drove in another run with a sacrifice fly.
“All around,” Reddick said, “that felt like the first time the Astros have come out to their whole as a lineup.”