New York Yankees 5, Houston Astros 6
NEW YORK — Yordan Alvarez and Alex Bregman had big hits, and the Houston Astros made it back to the World Series. They beat the New York Yankees 6-5 on Sunday night to complete a four-game sweep of the AL Championship Series and move on to the World Series.
The Astros won their second consecutive pennant and fourth in the last six years. They did this by taking advantage of a costly error by second baseman Gleyber Torres to start the winning rally in the seventh inning.
Rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña’s three-run home run against the struggling Yankees starter Nestor Cortes was a key factor in the AL West champions’ comeback from a 3-0 deficit early in the game. Peña was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the ALCS.
Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies, who won the National League Championship Series against San Diego earlier in the day to win the series in five games and advance to the World Series, will face the Houston Astros in the first game of the World Series on Friday night in Houston.
Harrison Bader, who batted leadoff once again for the New York Yankees, had three hits, all of which resulted in runs scored. It was his fifth home run of these playoffs, and it came off of the winning pitcher Hector Neris. The home run gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning.
They were unable to contain themselves even when doing so was absolutely necessary.
In the seventh inning, Peña hit a ball to Torres that should have ended the inning with a double play. But his throw to second base went past shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, making the 46,545 people in the stadium groan, and the Astros had two runners on.
Alvarez hit a single to score the tying run on Jonathan Loáisiga’s next pitch, and Bregman put Houston ahead with a single that scored a run off Clay Holmes.
It was the Yankees’ sixth mistake in this postseason. In Game 3, they also gave the Astros a gift that was very important. Chas McCormick hit an early two-run homer off New York ace Gerrit Cole after Gold Glove outfielder Bader dropped a fly ball with two outs and almost collided with Aaron Judge in right center.
Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly all breathed a sigh of relief when they closed the door. Pressly got Judge out on a comebacker for his third save of the series, which made the Astros rush out of the dugout and hug and shake hands on the infield.
After a few moments, a large group of orange-clad Houston supporters began chanting “sweep! sweep!” behind their team’s third base dugout in what was otherwise a mostly empty Yankee Stadium.
There was a problem with something. Cortes initially remained in the game after Yankees manager Aaron Boone and head athletic trainer Tim Lentych made their way out to the field to perform a quick check on the pitcher’s condition.
However, he issued a free pass to Altuve, marking the first time this season that the All-Star lefty has done so in consecutive at-bats. And eight pitches after the pitcher visited the mound, Pea tied the game with a 3-1 slider that he hit into the seats in left field.
Cortes, who was suffering from an injury to his left groin, was forced to leave the match at this point and apparently made his condition worse. Due to a strain in his left groin, he was unable to participate in any activities from August 22 until September 7.
Wandy Peralta gave Alvarez a double, and Alvarez moved to third when Kyle Tucker hit Peralta with a line drive that went for an infield single with one out. Yuli Gurriel hit a single that scored a run and put Houston ahead 4-3, but Peralta stopped any more damage from happening.
The Yankees had to win to keep their season going, so after an 84-minute delay because of a threat of rain, they got off to a good start in the first inning. Giancarlo Stanton hit a single that drove in a run off of starter Lance McCullers Jr., and Torres hit a single into center that drove in a run.
That brought the scoreless streak for New York to an end after 14 innings. After 19 innings, Houston had not allowed an opponent to score a run that was earned.
In the second, Anthony Rizzo‘s RBI double with two outs made it 3-0, but Stanton struck out with runners on second and third and no outs. In the fourth, Rizzo hit a single with two outs that drove in a run and tied the score at 4.
In Game 7 of the 2017 ALCS, McCullers shut out the Yankees by throwing 24 curveballs in a row. He threw for five innings. He gave up eight hits and four runs, of which three were earned.
UP NEXT
The Yankees will begin their 2023 spring training schedule on February 25 against Philadelphia. The first game of the regular season will be played at home against San Francisco on March 30.
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