The Yankees lineup had no answers for Cristian Javier but finally got to the Astros bullpen as they beat Houston 7-1 on Friday night.
Oswaldo Cabrera had the biggest night at the plate, going 4-for-4 with three RBI.
Here are the takeaways….
– Friday’s game was a tale of two halves. The first saw the Yankees’ offense flummoxed by Javier. The Yankees had just four hits and worked one walk against the Astros starter in six innings.
However, once Javier was pulled the Yankees got to the bullpen. In the seventh inning, Cabrera would single home Anthony Volpe from second for the tying run. Gleyber Torres would load the bases after being hit by a pitch on the thumb — he would later be removed from the game — and Juan Soto walked after five pitches to give the Yankees the lead.
The eighth inning is where the Astros imploded. Three hits, one walk and two fielding errors allowed the Yankees to score four runs, capped by Cabrera’s two-run single to put the Yankees up 6-1.
Cabrera started at third again and finished 4-for-5, the most hits in a single-game of his career. The utility man has six hits in the first two games of the season, the most by a Yankee since Hideki Matsui in 2005.
Giancarlo Stanton would put the cherry on top with a monstrous 419-foot solo homer in the ninth inning.
The Yankees lineup picked up seven hits, four walks and seven runs in the three innings Javier didn’t pitch.
-Soto, who was the hero of Thursday’s opener, continued to give the Yankees a potent bat and the ability to move the line with his three hits and walk There were some interesting moments for Soto in Game 2. The first came in his first at-bat when he disliked homeplate umpire Rob Drake’s strike zone. Going down 0-2, Soto turned back and started chirping with Drake, and was in danger of being called out on a pitch-clock violation. Soto, however, hit an opposite-field single on the next pitch.
Then, before the bottom of the third, trainers and coaches spoke to Soto before he took the field but he stayed in the game in right field. In between innings and mound visits, Soto was seen stretching and trying to stay loose. After the game, Soto revealed he tweaked his ankle but was not in pain and will play Saturday.
In two games, Soto has gone 4-for-7 with three walks and two RBI.
–Carlos Rodon was pitching on a tightrope in his first start of the season. He had at least two runners in every inning of work.
In the first inning, Alex Bregman dropped a single just out of the reach of a diving Alex Vergudo in left-center field to drive in Jose Altuve — who led off with a double — from third base.
In the third, Rodon worked around a second-and-third situation with one out by striking out Jose Abreu and Chas McCormick back-to-back, one with the high fastball and another with a slider out of the zone.
Rodon would fan Yordan Alvarez with men on first and second with a high fastball to end another threat in the fourth.
The second-year Yankees’ final line: 4.1 IP (87 pitches/54 strikes), five hits, one earned run, three walks and four strikeouts.
–Austin Wells got the start and while he was relatively quiet at the plate 0-for-3 with a walk, a sacrifice, an RBI and a run he was solid behind the plate.
He made a great catch when a Rodon fastball got away from him as it almost hit Kyle Tucker in the head. The lefty ducked but Wells snagged the ball, not letting it get to the back wall and allowing Altuve to score from third base.
The Astros did steal three bases on Wells/Rodon, including a double steal in the third inning. He also had a passed ball in “garbage time.”
Game MVP: Yankees Bullpen
Yea this might be cheating, but after Rodon gutted through his outing, the Yankees bullpen kept the team in this one for the second straight game.
The combination of Nick Burdi, Luke Weaver, Victor Gonzalez, Caleb Ferguson and Clayton Beeter (making his major league debut) pitched 3.2 innings, giving up just two hits and two walks.
Ferguson was especially impressive, pitching 1.1 innings and getting out of a men-on-first-and-second jam with two outs by getting Abreu to fly out in the seventh inning with the Yankees nursing a 2-1 lead.
Highlights
What’s Next
The Yankees look to pick up the four-game series win against the Astros on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
Marcus Stroman will take the mound, opposed by Hunter Brown.
