The Yankees’ bats went completely silent on Thursday, turning a promising series into a ugly 5-1 loss against the Astros. Without Aaron Judge leading the charge, the offense simply went to sleep, scoring just one run in front of 41,203 fans at Yankee Stadium. According to NY Post Sports, the defeat puts the squad four games back of the Rays within the American League East while maintaining only a two-game advantage over Boston for the last wild-card position. The contrast with the last few days is stark. The team had scored 24 runs on 34 hits during a three-game surge entering this finale, but that momentum vanished instantly.
The Pitching Floor Holds While the Bat Breaks
Gerrit Cole did his part to keep the Yanks in the game. He pitched better than his six-innings, three-run score line suggests, striking out five and walking only one batter. In fact, Cole was mostly dominant until the sixth inning, when Daulton Varsho worked a walk to set up a disaster. The pitching staff held up well against a tough lineup, even though Cole fell one strikeout short of tying Robin Roberts for 54th place on the all-time list. The real problem was the lack of support. NY Post Sports reports that former farmhand Hayden Wesneski, joined by three Houston relievers, limited the Yankees to five total hits, none of which occurred with runners in scoring position.
A Broken Offense in the Clutch
The numbers from this game are hard to swallow for any fan. The Yankees finished 0-for-9 with runners on second and/or third, a statistic that shows just how deep the slump goes. Ben Rice managed two of the five hits, but the rest of the lineup offered nothing to help Cole. To make matters worse, another error by George Lombard Jr. led to a late insurance run for Houston, capping off a series loss. Lombard has now made an error in six consecutive games, a worrying trend for a promising young shortstop. The Astros struck out 11 batters and took the series two games to one.
Before the game, manager Aaron Boone acknowledged the difficulty of facing the opposition. Before facing the Red Sox, Boone stated to NY Post Sports that the opponent is currently one of the finest teams in the game. While he was talking about Boston, the quote feels just as true for Houston. The Astros hit a two-run home run off Cole in the sixth inning to take a 3-0 lead, powered by Walker’s 24th home run of the season. The Yankees cannot rely on a three-game hot streak to fix a lineup that goes cold without its best hitter. They need to find a way to score runs against good pitching, or the wild-card race will slip away fast.
