HOUSTON — For years, the Houston Astros were the team that ended the Yankees’ October dreams. They knocked New York out in the 2015 wild card. They beat the Yankees in the 2017 ALCS. They did it again in 2019. They swept them 4-0 in the 2022 ALCS.
The Astros were the killer the Yankees could not figure out.
On Saturday night at Daikin Park, the Yankees made it look like that version of this rivalry belongs to another era.
Austin Wells hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh. Ryan Weathers pitched well two days after becoming a father. The Yankees drew 10 walks. They won 8-3 for their eighth straight victory, matching the longest winning streak of last season.
Wells breaks through when the Yankees needed it most
The Yankees have been asking Austin Wells to be more for a month. He entered Saturday hitting .164 with a .536 OPS. He had just two RBIs through 25 games. Boone sat him Friday. None of that suggested what was coming.
With the game tied 2-2 in the seventh, Wells stepped in against Kai-Wei Teng. He pulled a solo home run to right field. Yankees 3, Astros 2.
It was only his second homer of the season. It was the go-ahead run. He was not done. In the ninth, he drove in another run with an RBI single, finishing 2-for-3 with two walks. He doubled his RBI total in a single game.
Wells offered a simple take on the breakthrough.
“It’s good to find some grass and have it not get caught,” he said.
Boone had insisted Wells’ underlying work was better than his numbers showed.
“He’s had better at-bats than probably his numbers would suggest, and tonight was indicative of that,” Boone said. “Really good to see him get some results.”
Weathers pitches with a newborn at home
Wells was not the only feel-good story Saturday. Ryan Weathers took the mound just three days after becoming a first-time father.
His son Paul David Weathers was born Wednesday. Weathers was in Boston with the Yankees when he got the call at 4:30 a.m. He got in a car service, drove through the night, and made it to the hospital with about 10 minutes to spare. Two days later he threw a bullpen at Yankee Stadium. Between those moments, he caught sleep whenever the baby slept on his chest.
On Saturday he was reinstated from the paternity list and sent to the mound at Daikin Park. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowed two earned runs on six hits, struck out four and walked nobody across 86 pitches.
Carlos Correa was his toughest matchup. The Astros shortstop homered in the sixth to tie it 2-2 and doubled and scored in the first. But Weathers held everyone else down.
Wells, who had his own first child in January, understood exactly what Weathers had been through. Asked what it was like to pitch so soon after becoming a father, Wells gave him full credit.
“I don’t know how that affects somebody,” Wells said. “I had a couple months before I had to go back to playing baseball. I mean, he might still be blacked out from that event. So he did a great job handling leaving and coming back, and was in good spirits today.”
Three solo homers and a patient offense seal it
Before Wells’ go-ahead shot, Trent Grisham and Jose Caballero had already gone deep. Grisham hit a solo homer off starter Mike Burrows in the third inning. Caballero followed in the fifth, his second home run in as many games.
The Yankees then took control with a four-run seventh. After Wells homered, two bases-loaded walks pushed the lead to 5-2. Ben Rice hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Ryan McMahon drove in a run with a single in the ninth. Eight runs total. Ten walks drawn.
Caballero also drew attention Saturday for twice attempting to steal third base with a left-handed hitter at the plate, both times unsuccessfully. Boone addressed it with a grin afterward.
“We get that steal of third locked down, and it would have been Rickey-like tonight,” Boone said.
The killer myth crumbled
The Yankees improved to 18-9. Eight straight wins. The Astros fell to 10-18. October’s old dynamic has shifted. Saturday made that clear.
The Houston team is no more the one that tormented New York for nearly a decade. They are now an easy prey to hungry Yankees youngsters. They have lost 12 of their last 14 games. Against New York, they are 6-16 in the last three years.
Manager Aaron Boone said patience was the key ingredient Saturday. His lineup worked deep counts, took walks, and refused to expand the zone. His postgame remarks reflected what he had watched all night.
The Yankees maybe on a revenge mood and making the Astros pay for the stealing their trophy with cheating.
How do you see the Yankees’ 8-3 humilaition of the Astros.
