NEW YORK — The New York Yankees’ postseason push suffered another major setback Sunday, as they fell 7-1 to the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium. Struggling ace Max Fried endured another rough outing, while Houston’s Jason Alexander carried a no-hitter deep into the game in front of 43,658 frustrated fans.
Jose Altuve marked the day with his 250th career home run, fueling a dominant Houston performance that had the crowd booing by the final out. The loss dropped New York to 62-56 and extended their skid to seven defeats in the last nine games. Since June 13, the Yankees have dropped 31 of 51 contests, slipping from first in the AL East to third and barely holding onto a wild card position.
Fried’s first-half dominance fades
Max Fried, once the anchor of the Yankees’ rotation, allowed four runs on eight hits over five innings. The left-hander fell to 12-5 and has now given up 29 runs in 36 innings since late June, ballooning his ERA to 6.00 in that span after entering the summer with a 1.92 mark.
“You go through spells sometimes, but to be honest I’ve just got to be better,” Fried said. “I just gotta be better at locating, being able to throw and get more ground balls, and I haven’t been able to do it.”
The $218 million investment has looked far from ace-caliber since the All-Star break. Fried threw 94 pitches Sunday but could not record an out in the sixth, continuing a stretch where Yankees starters have failed to reach that inning in 10 straight games.
“We gotta improve in that area,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We gotta get some outings where we get a little bit deeper.”
Alexander stifles Yankees’ bats
Alexander, who came in with a 5.97 ERA, baffled the Yankees over six innings. He held them hitless until Ben Rice singled with one out in the sixth. The right-hander worked 87 pitches, mixing changeups and sinkers, and finished with three strikeouts and three walks.
It was his second straight scoreless start and another example of New York’s offensive struggles. The Yankees managed just three hits all afternoon, striking out seven times.
“We gotta be able to muster more than that,” Boone said. “Just didn’t pressure him enough at all.”
Rice’s lone hit quickly ended any momentum when Aaron Judge grounded into a double play to close the sixth inning.
Altuve’s milestone highlights Astros’ surge
Altuve set the tone in the first inning with a home run to left, becoming only the 11th second baseman in MLB history to reach 250 career homers. He scored three times, including on Christian Walker’s RBI double in the third and Ramon Urias’ single in the ninth that dropped between Anthony Volpe and Cody Bellinger.
Carlos Correa added a solo homer in the eighth — his second since returning to Houston from Minnesota. Correa has notched five straight multi-hit games since rejoining the Astros.
Boone ejected early
Boone was tossed in the third inning for arguing a called strike on Ryan McMahon, marking his fifth ejection of the season. Home plate umpire Derek Thomas had already drawn the Yankees’ ire with questionable strike calls.
The disputed strikeout ended a potential rally, as New York again came up empty with runners in scoring position.
Smith delivers knockout hit
In the fifth, rookie Cam Smith broke the game open with a two-out, bases-loaded single that scored two runs. The at-bat continued after a borderline 2-2 pitch was ruled a ball, keeping Smith alive and allowing him to extend the lead to 4-0.
“It definitely would have been nice, but no one’s going to look back and really care, right?” Fried said of the missed call. “You just gotta be able to make the pitch and get out of it anyway.”
Yankees’ lone run falls short
New York’s only offense came in the seventh when they loaded the bases against Bennett Sousa. Bryan Abreu came in and allowed Ryan McMahon’s sacrifice fly, but then retired Austin Wells on the next pitch to end the inning.
The Yankees stranded the bases loaded in their best scoring chance of the game. In the eighth, Abreu set down Judge, Wells and Bellinger in order to preserve the lead.
Astros pile on late
Houston padded its lead with three runs in the ninth against Tim Hill. Correa’s homer and an RBI single from Mauricio Dubon sealed the blowout. The inning also featured a defensive miscue when Bellinger mishandled a throw to the plate, with the ball slipping from his hand and traveling only a few feet.
Postseason hopes slipping
The Yankees entered the game holding the AL’s third wild card spot but are now only half a game ahead of Cleveland, which also lost Sunday. Boone remained publicly confident in his roster despite the slump.
“We’re in a playoff position right now, and we’ve been through a bad two months where we haven’t performed at a level we need to,” Boone said. “You can pick out a number of teams that are sitting in a worse position than we are right now that go on that run. We have the people to do that.”
The Yankees continue their homestand Monday with Will Warren (6-5, 4.44 ERA) set to face Minnesota’s Zebby Matthews (3-3, 5.17 ERA). Time is running short for a team that began the season chasing a championship but now must fight to simply stay alive in the playoff race.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
