NEW YORK — For two months, the wait hung over Cody Bellinger every time he stepped to the plate.
The last time he had cleared a fence was June 17. Sixty-six days and 32 games later, in only his second game back from the injured list, the drought finally broke. Bellinger turned on a first-pitch fastball from Houston rookie Ethan Pecko in the third inning Tuesday and drove it off the face of the second deck for a three-run homer.
It was the second-longest homerless stretch of his career, and it put the Yankees ahead 3-2. Yankee Stadium exhaled.
The relief did not last long. Neither did the lead, or the two that followed it.
For one night, the Yankees’ season flipped upside down. The offense that had spent weeks drawing criticism did nearly everything asked of it. The pitching staff that had carried the club came apart.
Garcia and the Yankees offense do their part
Luis Garcia Jr. did almost everything a player can do in a loss. He finished 4-for-4, a triple shy of the cycle, and twice handed the Yankees a lead.
After two early singles, Garcia hammered a two-run homer off Pecko in the fifth for a 5-3 edge, his 27th of the season and fourth since joining the Yankees. In the seventh, with the game tied, he lined an RBI double down the right-field line to put New York back in front 6-5. It was his third four-hit game of the year and the eighth of his career.
Garcia has taken quickly to his new home, and his manager wanted the fan base to notice.
“I hope our fan base is starting to see what a live bat we got in here,” Boone said. “He’s hit some balls really, really hard since he’s been here. He’s capable of nights like this.”
Garcia pointed to a swing built for the short porch in right.
“I feel like my swing is different from other left-handed hitters. It’s somewhat flat,” Garcia said through an interpreter. “I’m just looking for something up there where I can connect well.”
A bullpen that never breaks finally did
The Yankees scored seven runs. On most nights this summer, that is a comfortable win. Instead they lost 9-7 to the Astros, undone by a bullpen meltdown that ranks among the most surprising of their season.
New York relievers surrendered six runs. Entering Tuesday, the Yankees bullpen had allowed just four earned runs across its previous 29 1/3 innings and carried a major league-best 2.44 ERA over the past 70 games, dating to June 3. It was the first time the pitching staff had given up more than five runs since Aug. 3.
The Yankees fell to 74-57 and remained 3.5 games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. Boston won in extra innings and moved within 1.5 games of New York for the American League’s top wild-card spot, with a four-game series between the two set for this weekend in the Bronx.
Houston, which fired general manager Dana Brown on its off day Monday, scored in six of the nine innings and played like a team fighting for its postseason life.
Cruz and Headrick become villains
Every time the Yankees pulled ahead, Houston answered. Will Warren gave up three runs, two earned, over five innings and could not hold a 3-2 lead, with a Daulton Varsho grounder squeezing through the right side to tie it in the fifth.
Then the Yankees bullpen took over, and the trouble deepened. Fernando Cruz walked Yainer Diaz in the sixth and left a 91.5 mph fastball over the middle to Jeremy Pena, who lofted a two-run homer to tie the game 5-5. Cruz, who has struggled since the All-Star break, offered no excuses.
“It’s just that part of the year,” Cruz said. “There’s ups and downs, like every player has. I’ve just got to be better. It’s going to come. My splitter hasn’t been as effective.”
The eighth belonged to Brent Headrick, and it unraveled fast. He struck out Cam Smith, then Diaz drove his second homer of the night to right to tie it 6-6. Pena singled, Yordan Alvarez tripled him home and Isaac Paredes singled for an 8-6 Houston lead. Headrick was charged with a season-high three runs.
The left-hander had been one of the surest arms in the game. His ERA climbed from 1.49 to 1.88, and Diaz’s shot was only the fourth home run he had allowed all season. He tried to keep the night in perspective.
“I went in feeling good. I thought I made some good pitches at times,” Headrick said. “Sometimes, baseball just happens. I think the best thing I can do is flush it.”
Workload number behind Boone’s eighth-inning gamble
The detail that rarely makes the recap is why Headrick was in the game at all. He entered with 68 appearances, the second-most of any pitcher in the majors, and Boone said he had been reluctant to use the Yankees left-hander because of that mounting workload.
The manager had reason to trust him anyway. Brent Headrick had allowed a total of three runs over his previous 21 outings, the kind of form that made him a nightly weapon. On Tuesday, that math finally turned.
Cruz’s slide is the more worrying trend. He has allowed 11 runs, nine earned, in 14 2/3 innings since the All-Star break, a 5.52 ERA, and four of the seven home runs he has surrendered this season have come in 10 August games. Boone is not ready to move him out of high-leverage work.
“He’s got to be part of the equation,” Boone said of Cruz. “We still need him to get big outs for us. Tonight, they got him when he fell behind.”
Where the Yankees stand now
The Yankees did not add a reliever at the trade deadline, a choice that looms larger on nights like this. Help may still come from within. Clarke Schmidt is about to begin a minor league rehab assignment as he aims to rejoin the Yankees in September.
The final blow came in the ninth, when Smith tripled and Diaz singled him home for a 9-7 margin. Josh Hader worked around a leadoff single to finish a four-out save, his 19th in 19 chances. Bryan Abreu earned the win. Headrick took the loss.
Boone did not overthink the result, crediting an Astros lineup that matched the Yankees swing for swing.
“They beat our guys tonight, so you got to give them some credit,” Boone said. “We kept answering for the most part, but they just did a little bit more offensively tonight.”
The Yankees host the Astros again Wednesday at 7:05 p.m., with Houston sending Peter Lambert to the mound. New York had not named a starter, though Elmer Rodriguez is expected to pitch in some capacity. The offense delivered. Now the pitching has to prove Tuesday was the blip everyone in the clubhouse believes it was.
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