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The Yankees won their second consecutive game over a rival on Thursday, beating the Astros, 4-3, before a rowdy crowd at Yankee Stadium.
The foes traded blows throughout the game, but Anthony Volpe’s sixth-inning RBI single gave the Yankees the lead for good. The hit scored Harrison Bader, who walked and stole second base.
The Yankees scored their first three runs in the opening frame with a pair of dingers off Astros right-hander Cristian Javier. Giancarlo Stanton got the scoring started with a two-run blast, his second home run in as many days. Billy McKinney immediately followed with a solo shot.
A thorn in the Yankees’ side in the past, Javier only gave the Astros 4.2 innings. The pinstripers made him throw 102 pitches.
Houston responded quickly after the first inning, however, as a Jake Meyers groundout and a Martín Maldonado single gave them two runs off Clarke Schmidt in the second inning.
But Schmidt didn’t allow any more runs to the Astros, who the Yankees are trailing in the Wild Card race. Instead, the young righty lasted five innings while totaling four hits, one walk, four strikeouts and 82 pitches.
The Astros scored one more run on a Kyle Tucker homer in the sixth. That came off Wandy Peralta.
With one close game in the books, the Yankees and Astros have three more to play this weekend.
Friday’s contest features a pitching matchup between Astros rookie Hunter Brown and Luis Severino, who desperately needs to show signs of improvement. Severino, an impending free agent, has a 7.49 ERA over 12 starts this season.
Saturday’s game will mark Justin Verlander’s 2023 Astros debut, as the team reacquired the future Hall of Famer in a deal with the Mets prior to the trade deadline. The Yankee killer blanked the Bombers for six innings on July 25 in what proved to be his second-to-last start for the Mets.
“Houston was the No. 1 choice for me,” Verlander said Thursday. He had to waive a no-trade clause to return to Houston.
The Yankees, meanwhile, are getting a starter of their own back on Saturday, as Nestor Cortes is set to return from a rotator cuff strain. However, Cortes is only going to throw about 60 pitches. Between that and Severino’s struggles, the Yankees could need serious length from the bullpen over the next two days.
José Urquidy will rejoin the Astros’ staff on Sunday following his own shoulder injury. He will duel against Carlos Rodón, who owns a 6.29 ERA over his first five starts with the Yankees.
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