HOUSTON — The New York Yankees beat the Houston Astros 8-4 on Thursday night, sealing a key series win at Daikin Park. However, they have to fight on two fronts, the Astros team and umpire Brian Walsh, who continued to torment them with errors.
Trent Grisham broke the game open with a three-run homer in the eighth inning, his 30th of the year, giving New York breathing room after a night filled with questionable calls from umpire Brian Walsh. It marked the second straight game where the Yankees had to fight both their opponent and the officiating.
The victory pushed New York to 78-62, sending them home with momentum ahead of a critical weekend showdown with the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees trail Toronto by three games with 22 left to play.
Yankees need to overcome umpire to beat Astros
For the second night in a row, Brian Walsh was at the center of controversy. After a string of missed calls behind the plate on Wednesday, Walsh moved to third base Thursday and made another ruling that sparked Yankee frustration.
In the sixth inning with New York up 4-1, Jose Altuve hit a soft liner to third. Ryan McMahon appeared to catch the ball cleanly before losing it while transferring to his throwing hand. Walsh, who is a Red Sox fan, ruled that McMahon never secured the catch, allowing a run to score and trimming the Yankees’ lead to 4-2.
The play could not be reviewed under MLB rules. After a discussion among the umpiring crew, the call stood.
“More just ticked off at myself for not making sure to keep holding onto it,” McMahon said after going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. “I got cute, I wanted to look at second and see if we could double him off. But right there, just got to make sure I squeeze it and hold on tight. I do think I caught it though.”
Manager Aaron Boone, who already leads the American League with six ejections, stayed calm during a short discussion with Walsh and crew chief Adrian Johnson.
The continued anti-Yankees calls came amid reports of Walsh’s fandom of the Boston Red Sox.
Ninth inning brings more drama
The Yankees entered the ninth with an 8-3 lead, but the game wasn’t finished without another twist. Reliever David Bednar gave up back-to-back hits, including a double from Taylor Trammell. Boone asked the umpires to check Trammell’s bat, which showed suspicious discoloration.
After a long review, officials confiscated the bat and sent it for authentication, though Trammell remained on second base. The Astros then loaded the bases with a Yordan Alvarez RBI single and an Altuve walk, bringing the tying run to the plate with one out.
Bednar shut the door by striking out Carlos Correa with a 97-mph fastball and then fanning Christian Walker on a curveball to end the game.
“Winning the series in this place is a tough thing,” reliever Fernando Cruz said. Cruz struck out Altuve with two men on in the seventh to escape a jam. “For me, I knew we had a really, really good chance after that of winning the game. So my emotions just exploded.”
Rodon ties for MLB wins lead
Carlos Rodón gave the Yankees six strong innings, holding Houston to two runs — one unearned — on three hits and two walks. He struck out three and improved to 16-7, tying Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta for the major league lead in wins.
“It was my turn to pick them up,” Rodón said. “They’ve picked me up all season.”
New York’s offense gave Rodón an early cushion. McMahon drove in a run with an RBI single in the second, then added a solo home run in the fifth as part of a three-run inning that stretched the lead to 4-1.
The Astros got on the board with an Alvarez homer in the third. They benefited again from the disputed sixth-inning call before Jesus Sanchez homered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Grisham joins exclusive Yankees center field club
Trent Grisham’s blast in the eighth came with perfect timing. With New York leading 5-3, McMahon delivered an RBI single before Grisham crushed a 404-foot shot into the right-field stands, quieting the crowd of 35,018.
The three-run homer was his 30th of the season and the 100th of his career. He became the seventh Yankees center fielder to hit 30 home runs in a season, joining legends Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Aaron Judge, Curtis Granderson, Bernie Williams, and Bobby Murcer.
“We’ve played good ball of late, but at the end of the day, we got to play well against those guys,” Grisham said, looking ahead to Toronto.
Series win sets stage for crucial homestand
The Yankees closed out a 5-1 road trip, securing their first series win against a winning team since sweeping Seattle from July 8-10. They also moved a half-game ahead of Boston for the top AL wild card spot.
“This took some months and some years off me, for sure,” Boone said with a laugh. “But look, really, really gritty, good performance by the guys, especially as they started to come back off of how emotional Wednesday night was and everything and a tough loss.”
Aaron Judge walked three times but did not drive in a run. New York still took two of three games without offensive production from their captain.
Now the Yankees return home for a three-game set against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. Toronto has won six of its last seven matchups with New York, making this weekend critical for both sides in the playoff race.
“For the guys to come out and build a lead, have the Astros come back and then just keep pulling away and some big performances out of the pen to finish it off, just a really good win to finish off a good road trip here,” Boone said.
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