All the Yankees need in this postseason, it seems, is a return home to Yankee Stadium, their Fortress of Solitude. After suffering through two nail-biting losses in Houston, the Yankees came back to New York and delivered the most relaxing playoff win in recent memory, a casual 8-1 win over the Astros to hold serve in an ALCS that has yet to see a home team lose.
Getting the start for the Yankees was CC Sabathia. As I watched the early innings of the game I was thinking that if I were an Astros fan, I wouldn’t believe in Sabathia. I would have dismissed his stellar record in starts following Yankee losses this season as nothing but a fluke, no more proof of his effectiveness than presents on Christmas morning are proof of Santa Claus.
But facts are facts, and while Sabathia might look more like Santa Claus than the Yankees’ ace at this point in his career, he took the mound on Monday night and did what aces do. On a night when his team needed him the most, Sabathia gave them exactly what any ace would. He cruised through the first two innings, keeping the Houston bats quiet — even José Altuve’s — to give his team a chance to jump out in front early.
The first Yankee rally began in the bottom of the second inning. With two men already out, Starlin Castro took a big swing and hit a dribbler to the left side of the infield for a base hit. Next up was Aaron Hicks, who blooped a ball into center to bring up Todd Frazier with two on and two out. For his 1-1 pitch, Houston starter Charlie Morton threw what he’d probably say was the perfect pitch for the situation, a 95-MPH fastball at the knees and on the outside corner. That’s normally a pitch that a dead pull hitter like Frazier would either swing through or foul off, but instead Frazier reached out over the plate and punched the ball one-handed towards right field. The nature of his swing seemed to indicate a lazy fly out, but the ball left his bat in a hurry and kept carrying and carrying until it fell into the first couple of rows in the right field bleachers for a three-run home run.
It was the Yankees’ first lead of the series, and with Sabathia looking good and the bullpen incredibly fresh, Yankee fans from New York to California were surely feeling confident. Almost immediately, though, Sabathia worked himself into some trouble in the top of the third. After getting the first two outs rather quickly, he walked George Springer and gave up a single to Alex Bregman, putting runners on first and third with Altuve headed to the plate. At this point there’s really no reason to pitch to Altuve, even with Carlos Correa looming behind him, and Sabathia was more than a little careful. Even though Bregman was on first, there was still a base open, as David Cone is always reminding us, so Sabathia gave Altuve nothing to hit while issuing a five-pitch walk.
If there was a moment when the game might’ve turned, this was clearly it. Even just a base hit from Correa, who had produced three of the Astros’ four runs in Houston, would’ve tightened the game into a tense affair, and a home run would’ve sucked the life out of the Stadium. But Sabathia stood strong, surprising Correa with a cutter over the heart of the plate for strike one, then riding another in on his hands to get a pop-up to end the threat. It would be the last tense moment of the game.
Cameron Maybin was in left field for Houston, and in the bottom of the fourth he had a good look at a play that would eventually lead to the demise of his Astros. With the outfield swung all the around to the right, Greg Bird sliced a fly ball down the left field line. The ball was in the air for an awful long time, and I’m sure everyone watching, whether in gray or in pinstripes, assumed Maybin would make the play. But he inexplicably pulled up at the last minute, let the ball bounce at his feet, and then watched helplessly as it spun into the stands for a lead-off ground rule double.
The two-out rally continued when Frazier drew a walk, and then the Yankees cashed in Maybin’s misplay when Chase Headley’s grounder up the middle glanced off Altuve’s glove for an RBI single to put the Yankees up 4-0. Mr. Morton had pitched well, much better than his eventual stat line would indicate, but now things were unraveling. To makes matter worse, and to end his night, Morton plunked Brett Gardner to load the bases for Aaron Judge.
All I wanted in the world at that moment was a grand slam for Judge, something to quiet the critics, reward his patience, and send the Stadium into euphoria, but it wasn’t to be. Reliever Will Harris threw a 58-foot curve ball that bounced over his catcher’s head, allowing one runner to score and the others to advance, denying the grand slam but adding to the Yankee lead.
Somewhere David Cone was looking at that empty base at first, but Harris wasn’t. He threw a 2-1 fastball that Judge barely missed, then came back with another that he didn’t. Judge sent a rocket to left that never seemed to get more than fifty feet off the ground as it screamed towards its destination in the first row of the bleachers. Judge allowed himself a smile of relief as he rounded first, and the Stadium celebrated the 8-0 lead.
After Judge had fouled off that first fastball, it seemed like catcher Evan Gattis had recognized the folly of trying to sneak another one past him, and looked to be calling for a curveball. Harris shook him off twice, though, until he got what he wanted and delivered that fateful fastball. The whole thing felt like a scene out of Bull Durham. (It should also be noted that Judge made two fantastic plays in the field, one jumping high against the wall in right, the other diving to catch a line drive in front of him. The whole package was on display.)
Nothing much happened after that. The game wasn’t half over, but the eight runs felt like more than enough. After two weeks of tense playoff baseball, it was nice to have the game on in the background during dinner with the family. Heck, it was nice to be able to breathe.
Sabathia continued dealing, although he had to work around two hits in the fifth, and a hit and an error in the sixth. He’d throw 99 pitches over six innings, allowing just three hits, four walks, and not a single run. He improved to 10-0 this season following Yankee losses, the first American League pitcher to do that since another great Yankee, Whitey Ford, in 1961.
If there was anything to be concerned about, it was Delin Betances. With the game already in his pocket, Joe Girardi wisely took the opportunity to pitch Betances in the ninth, clearly hoping to give his big reliever some confidence should he be needed in a tight spot later on. Unfortunately for Betances, he walked the first batter on four pitches that weren’t close to the plate, then walked the next, forcing Girardi to get him. I feel bad for Delin. We know him as an unhittable all-star, but he’s fallen into a terrible funk at the worst possible time. My guess is that barring an extra-inning marathon, we won’t seem him pitch again until April. It’s a shame.
But the good news is that the Yankees are back in business. A win today evens the series, and then all things are possible.
Good write-up. I loved Frazier's excuse me bat flick that landed in the right field seats. And CC looked like Old CC the Dependable Ace.
Today's starter for Houston, Lance McCullers had a 93 ERA+ this year, but he did okay against the Yankees. In May, at the Stadium he went 6 innings, allowing 4 hits, no walks, no runs and struck out 7 in a win. But, in late June, back in Houston, he went 5 and 1/3 and gave up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 3 earned runs in a loss.
In fact, prior to that game he had a 2.53 ERA. And that was the jumping off point for some real stinkers by McCullers. After giving up 3 earned runs to the Yanks, he gave up 5, 4, 6, 5, 3, 2, and 6 earned runs in his next 7 consecutive starts (including the postseason) and finished with a 4.25 ERA.
This little tid-bit from RAB:
Sabathia, who had the fifth highest soft contact rate and the sixth lowest hard contact rate in baseball this season, held the Astros to a 73.7 mph average exit velocity in Game Three. It was the lowest for any pitcher against the ‘Stros this season, according to James Smyth. In a way, Sabathia was the perfect pitcher to send out there against the Astros. They’re going to put the ball in play, but CC knows how to use their aggressiveness against them, and seemingly nothing he gives up is hard-hit.
5 PM start in October. TV gods don't seem to understand that their schedules impact the game.
Look on the Sonny side. Always on the Sonny side. Look on the Sonny side of life.
Breaking news, the YS RF wall has just filed for workers comp.
That's good.
Joe Phuck and Schmutz. bah.
1st pitch hit box was a ball. 2nd pitch missed box called a strike. Yippee.
Nice throw!.
Yikes. Just had a Chris Carter flashback.
No 2 out runs allowed.
let's get Sonny a lead.
NO RUNS FOR YOU!
(but I'll take a bundle for us)
why hasn't hicks been moved up in the lineup?
Lame!
Too many pitches for Gray. And the control isn't great.
12 days of not pitching hasn't helped his control, what a surprise
Okay. One more ground ball please.
A, the old 1-6-3 DP
Hell yeah. Nice Solid throw to Didi.
wow, i was like 95% sure he'd throw that into center field
a hit, please. Let's get this thing started
By the way, why the fuck are we playing consecutive 5 o'clock games!!!
thanks Todd.
So the games will end before 11. : )
cmon, bring him in Gardy
Cash him in.
Rats
[23] I don't know. I like listening to the games on the radio at the office. I also can't complain because I bitch all the time about the 7 pm starts and I even live in the central time zone. I can't imagine how awful it is starting at 8 pm in the east. I like to go to sleep at 10 pm so last night was misery for me.
rats.
Wasted. Big at bats upcoming.
Will the tot be a Terror or a Tater?
in less important news, my arteries are hardening just watching the despicable Applebee's ads.
Hot Damn. Huge K!
that should get the fans inot it!
E4.
Flashback to Mill Buckner
ugly, Starlin
Terrible.
Tater ... but SERIOUSLY Castro???
Er, Bill.
Keep it low. Keep getting grounders.
just plain whiffed, no excuse for that
Romine taking lessons fron Sanchez? oh, called WP
Poor. Very Fucking poor. 1 more out!
"Run Prevention." I bring you Austin Romine.
romine looked so scrappy not blocking that pitch
Thanks, stros.
Yes, no harm, no fould
nobody happier that Starlin at the moment
Alright. Let’s do this!
I'll accept a walk.
That's fucking low, dude.
have the yankees even attempted a stolen base this series? these catchers are like the worst in the league at throwing out runners
Dammit!
[54] Like literally, they're worse than Romine ...
safe. Still terrible.
WFT!
Safe. Also smoltz Altuve didn’t deke him - he wasn’t even looking at Altuve!
SAFE!
challenge!
Out for missing 2nd. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
but he didn't touch 2nd on the way back
Terrible base running from Judge this whole inning.
That's like 4 Yankee unforced errors in a row (2 by Judge). You can't beat the Astros that way.
Bizarre.
Horseshit for everybody.
does joe lose a challenge for that?
What was that???
Gray has pitched well but I’m nervous..
[69] You should be. This game don't smell right.
Every year there's one pitcher that the Yankees refuse to score for. Sorry Sonny.
Clappity clappity clappity. Now score some runs ffs!
They should have smoltz make stadium announcements so he can get booed by 50,000 plus.
I'll accept that walk.
This is frustrating.
This is why the MLB needs to reconsider my "run capital" idea.
4 pitch walk a poor start. Chad or David soon?
a CI?
Bring in the Hammer now
sub-optimal
they sure are making lots of little mistakes. .. the kind that bite ya.
poor Sonny. Never gets support he deserves
Come on, David
This is sub-optimal.
Ugh, I’ve got a bad feeling
Nice! Ok one down.
This guy reminds me of some famous Russian.
Now a DP
Shit, fuck, piss
Fuck you, astros.
Damn. Bad pitch.
well that sucks
i love robertson, but he has to throw more cutters. they are sitting on the curveball
so judge comes in to play the infield.
Shoulda stayed in bed, huh Jazz?
The worst possible fucking outcome other than a salami. Maybe that'll snap the Yankee bats out of their funk.
Wahhhh! On way to ACME, Inc now
i get why sonny is pissed but he was living on the edge all night and walked the leadoff man on 4 straight pitches (though the 3-0 pitch should have been called a strike)
Fact is, bats need hats.
No hats, can't blame the pitching.
But I can blame Girardi for playing Romine ... who can't hit and evidently forgot how to catch since the end of the season ...
no joy
[100] Good point. The move is inexplicable, when it uses up 2 catchers and leaves 3 serious hitters (cold or not) on the bench. Headley on his worse day is 10 times better than Romine.
why TF are they talking football?!
Oh, goodie. Thr 8th hitter.
WTF is with Castro!
Aw Jeez, what the hell is wrong with Castro?
Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Yeah that was ugly.
Not to worry, we just have to beat Keuchel and JV. To force a game 7.
gee, hp, catcher int, 2 strait boots... they do not deserve to be in this game, and with the Astro pitching they ain't
The drop off from Cano to Ryan/Castro at 2B over last few years has been drastic...
maybe we'll have better luck if we call Keuchel Kuggle. my grandmother would approve
I didn't think think things couldn't get worse but there's Lance The King of Cheaters Armstrong.
I can't stand this anymore. Especially with Smoltz and Buck pouring salt in my wounds.
have you ever seen an infielder literally throw the ball backwards into the outfield before?
You can't win if you get one hit anyway. For the love of Mo! Make it interesting!
[113] Lance Boil is in the house? If so, he's got some nerve.
All Rise!
Good gracious. JUDGE
One run back!
All rise!
Boom.
1 back ... long way to go.
Bang-zoom, straight to the moon!
SIR DIDI!!!!!
Sweeeeeet.
Sir Didi!
Didi!
Weee! Let's hit for a team cycle this inning. The hard part's out of the way.
I missed the tater? Let’s keep the wheel turning though
Good job, Gary
D'oh! Thought it was another gapper.
Nice. Make up time, Starlin.
Castro you better make up for that E now!
Well done, Bird ... take the walk they want to give you.
Redemption time, Starlin
Fucking Bollocks!
Stop sliding into first
DAMMIT ... MOVE THE FUCKING CHAINS!
NONE OF THIS 800 FOOT HR BULLSHIT.
[137] At least it wasn't headfirst ...
FU blue
He did the old Japanese H.S. play: slide into first to show effort even though you just failed.
castro having a great game
Boat, an old grizzled J baseball coach told me in his youth, practice wasn’t over until you puked on the infield after fielding 500+ grounders in the hot sun. He thought today’s players age soft..
[143] You gotta have wa ...
[143] No wonder I've been so confused. I thought it was a game.
[144][145] Yeah! I didn’t know ‘wa’ included coaches smacking players during a ‘hansei kai’ post-game ‘contrition’ session...they don’t really do that anymore though
[145] I wonder how much has changed since that book first came out. I'd be curious to know.
So now we've got Frazier, Out, and Gardner.
[147] A lot. But the more things change...
Hit good pitches.
Phew. Keep. The. Line. Moving.
[146] Or treating arm injuries with the Japanese equivalent of "go purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka" ...
Headley's chance to become a Warrior.
[152] Choose Your Pain
[152] I repeatedly purified myself with Appolonia at Lake Minnetonka in my youth...
Cmon Chase!
Headley! Phew, I thought he was a dead duck there
Holy fucking shite! Safe! A break!
Yeah!!! Cmon now, tie it up!
Saint Altuve made a mistake? Unpossible!
It's Headley!!!
A BREAK! We have summoned the gods Mystique & Aura.
Keep.The.Line. Moving. X2.
I was just about to say we should be DHing CC and then he does that.
Giles throws 99..? Yikes..
Gets a run in. Here comes the Judge
Nice! That damn Castro error trough...
Gritner!
Tie it up! Hit it hard!
Got the job done.
Judge ... just MOVE THE FUCKING LINE.
[164] if he throws down the middle it leaves the park at 109.
Fuck yeah!!!!!
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssss!
It's Judgement day!
Wow
So excited, my dick rose!
THAT's what I'm talkin' 'bout!
Judge overrules the Astros lead
Yankees are coming on like Harvey.
Dammit, quit reaching over
What a douche bag fan.
Hell yeah. Move that line.
Redemption time for Sanchez!
I accept that seeing eye single
Go Dido go
Ecstasy!
Gary! Woot!
Thumbs down all the way
Wooo-HOOOO!
I AM GARY!
Messr. Sterling just went nuts!
good time for castro to redeem himself for some terrible play so far today
More insurance please
[192] score truck insurance!
Now, I'm gonna get Seven Nation Army stuck in my head again.
Mystique and Aura!!!
Score everybody!
I’m fine with that walk
SWEEP. THE. LEG.
This is one of my favorite Yankees teams.
Momback, momback...
I hate that.
LEG. WAS. NOT. SWEPT.
Rats.
Chapman time.
Though I’m still waiting for the Mo cloning
3 more outs
I can do without batters bitching about every call. That's OUR job!
1 down.
One down
Two down
2 down!
Hell yeah. Cheers, y'all. What a great team.
Guaranteed to go on the Yankees Classic rotation.
Three down!
Now a best of three series. Hell of a comeback
Simple: Judge & Sanchez hit, this is a very good team!
Man this makes me feel so good. What was it one of those Civil War diarists said? "I want to fight a small man, and lick him."
Best of 3 now.
Night all.
I feel like I put in a full day, it's not even 10 AM yet. G'night guys. Jazz, get to work!
Christ, ARod, if you want to be a dick and get in somebody's face with your ring, pick someone who doesn't have more of them than you.
[217] Just settling in to some paperwork and..oh, Yu Darvish is starting in Wrigley..?
[218] He has been doing that since the wild card game. Lol...
wow. just saw the end on dvr. sounds weird, but this was a Fenway like comeback. all hail the judge. can't wait until we eat up the Kuggle tomorrow, maybe with some chicken soup.
[214] what an allusion