In Between the Pinstripes #40

In Between the Pinstripes_40: We’ve been here before
This seems all too familiar to Yankee fans. A Game 2 walk-off win going against the bombers to shatter the hearts of Yankee fans and put the Yanks in an 0-2 hole going back to the Bronx. The only thing that could have changed the outcome of this game is the last play of the game where Gary Sanchez couldn’t handle relay throw from Didi.

People say that baseball is “a game of inches” and that is exactly what Game 2 of the ALCS was for the bombers. A ball hits off the roof, Headley misses a home-run by a few inches, Gardner gets thrown out at 3rd by a couple of inches, Severino gets tagged on his left arm by a come backer that forced Girardi’s hand to go to the bullpen, and Judge missed timed his jump to let a young Houston fans day. All of the bounces went Houston’s way, and if a few of those situations switch, who knows what the outcome.

This start by Justin Verlander, other than the fact that it was superb, it reminded me of Game 1 of the ALDS when Trevor Bauer dominated the bombers. Verlander, yes was lights out, but he had mistakes that should have been put into the seats by Yankee hitters. The Houston right-hander had a ton of meatballs in the middle of the plate to start off at-bats and if Judge and Sanchez—among others where seeing the ball good, there was at least six balls that should have been sprayed over Minute Maid Park.

But, the Yanks are going home and they have their stopper, C.C. Sabathia on the mound. Houston will either send out Lance McCullers, Collin McHugh, Brad Peacock, or Francisco Lirano. Peacock and Lirano got lit up in Boston in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Red Sox.

Houston is a good team, but they have their glaring holes. The bullpen is not very good, and their rotation after Verlander and Keuchel is not that good. While a 1-1 split would have been the best-case scenario when you face both Verlander and Keuchel, you face an 0-2, which the Yankees have seen before this postseason against a better team, you still have one of the MVP’s of the postseason, C.C. Sabathia. You get a day to regroup, two nights to sleep in your own bed, and show up for a big Game 3 on Monday Night. This is a very good Houston Astros team, but they haven’t been bulletproof by any means.


Don’t get too down about this lose tonight in Houston, it wasn’t as near as gut wrenching as the extra inning loss in Cleveland, and it showed that the Yankees pen could completely shut down the Astro offense. The Yankees bats just need to score a few runs.  

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