The Houston Astros arrived at Yankee Stadium with a pitching staff in trouble. They left with a series win, a .500 record, sole possession of first place in the AL West—and a pitching coach.
Houston beat the Yankees 5-1 Thursday night to take two of three in the Bronx and improve to 67-67. With the Rangers idle, the Astros moved one game ahead of Texas in a division race that continues to defy logic.
Earlier Thursday, the Astros announced they were bringing former pitching coach Brent Strom back as a consultant to help stabilize their struggling staff. Then Houston’s pitchers went out and held the Yankees to one run on five hits. Strom will join the team Friday at Citi Field, where the Astros open a three-game series against the Mets.
Baseball does have a sense of humor.
Hayden Wesneski Gives Astros What They Needed
Hayden Wesneski didn’t quite end Houston’s streak of starts without a pitcher completing six innings, but he came close enough to make a considerable difference. Wesneski held the Yankees to one run on three hits over five innings, walking two and striking out six.
He returned for the sixth but allowed a leadoff double to Ben Rice, prompting Joe Espada to turn to Steven Okert. Rice eventually scored on Cody Bellinger’s sacrifice fly, with the run charged to Wesneski, but that was all New York would get.
Wesneski earned the win and improved to 4-1 with a 3.86 ERA. More importantly for an Astros bullpen that has been asked to absorb far too many innings lately, he gave Houston a start they could work with.
Okert finished the sixth without allowing another run, and AJ Blubaugh followed with two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. Josh Hader worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts.
Combined, Houston pitching allowed five hits and two walks while striking out 11. The Yankees went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Not bad for a staff that apparently required reinforcements badly enough to call Brent Strom.
Christian Walker Gets to Gerrit Cole
Houston took a 1-0 lead in the third after Jeremy Peña was hit by a pitch and Isaac Paredes drove him home with a two-out single. The score stayed there until the sixth, when Daulton Varsho drew a two-out walk from Gerrit Cole and brought Christian Walker to the plate.
Walker drove Cole’s pitch over the right-center-field wall for his 24th home run of the season and a 3-0 Astros lead. It was the biggest swing of a very good night for Walker, who finished 3-for-4 with a homer, a double, two RBI, and two runs scored. His three hits accounted for a third of Houston’s nine.
Cole lasted six innings, allowing three runs on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts. The loss dropped him to 7-7.
Jeremy Peña Adds Some Insurance
Peña gave Houston another run almost immediately after Cole left. Facing Yerry De los Santos in the seventh, Cam Smith grounded out before Peña drove a solo homer to left. It was Peña’s 16th of the season and gave the Astros a 4-1 lead.
Houston added its final run in the eighth after Walker doubled with two outs. Yainer Diaz reached on a fielding error by shortstop George Lombard Jr., allowing Walker to score. Third baseman José Caballero was also charged with a throwing error on the play.
The Astros had an opportunity for more in the ninth. Yordan Alvarez was hit by a pitch, Paredes walked, and Nick Allen singled to load the bases with two outs, but Varsho struck out to end the inning. Hader took the bottom of the ninth and struck out two in a perfect inning to finish the win.
Astros Win Without Yordan Alvarez Doing the Damage
Perhaps one of the most encouraging parts of the win was who didn’t drive the offense. Alvarez entered the night in the middle of an extraordinary season, but Cole held him hitless and struck him out three times. Alvarez finished 0-for-4 before being hit by a pitch in the ninth.
Houston scored five anyway. Walker delivered the biggest hit, Peña homered, and Paredes had two hits and drove in the first run. The Astros didn’t need Alvarez to rescue the offense, and for a team that has too often looked dependent on its best hitter to manufacture something, that’s significant.
Astros Leave the Bronx Back at .500
The Astros came into this series having lost six of their previous eight games. They had fallen below .500 and watched what once looked like a comfortable division lead disappear. They’ll leave Yankee Stadium having won two of three from the Yankees.
That’s become one of the strangest features of this Astros season. Houston has repeatedly played well against winning clubs while making considerably harder work of teams they should beat.
Now they’re 67-67 with 28 games remaining. They also own first place outright again, one game ahead of the Rangers and three ahead of the Mariners. Brent Strom will join them Friday at Citi Field to help fix a pitching staff that just held the Yankees to one run. Maybe they heard he was coming.
The Astros open a three-game series against the Mets Friday at Citi Field, with Hunter Brown starting against Christian Scott. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. CT.
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