First inning homers by Stanton and McKinney put Astros starter Cristian Javier on his heels early
On any given night, it’s hard to tell whether Cristian Jekyl Javier or Cristian Hyde Javier will show up.
Tonight we had both.
The Yankees struck early against Hyde Javier with three runs in the first inning on home runs by Giancarlo Stanton and Bill Mckinney.
After that, Javier held the Yankees scoreless for another 3.2 innings, finishing in the fifth after allowing four hits, three walks, with four strikeouts. Kendall Graveman got the last out for Javier in the fifth.
Meanwhile, the Astros nibbled away against Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt. In the second inning, Yordan Alvarez led off with a walk, followed by a Jose Abreu single. A wild pitch put these runners on second and third, and Alvarez scored on a Jake Meyers fielder’s choice. Nine-hitter Martin Maldonado singled home Abreu.
It was the first of three singles for sub-Mendoza Maldonado in the game.
Kyle Tucker tied the game in the sixth inning with a solo homer down the right-field line.
King of the Jungle. pic.twitter.com/08f2gYrF7W
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 4, 2023
However, the Yankees re-took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning against recently-acquired Graveman. Graveman gave up a walk with two outs to Harrison Bader, who stole second on the next pitch. Anthony Volpe quickly singled him in to give the Yanks a 4-3 lead.
The game was set up for a heroic comeback by the Astros in the ninth when Jose Altuve came up with runners on first and second and two outs. However, Altuve grounded out to give the Yankees game one of this four-game series.
The Astros outhit the Yankees nine to five but were 0-4 in the second spot of the lineup occupied by Jeremy Pena, who had the second-lowest OPS in tonight’s lineup. Super slugger Yordan Alvarez was batting fifth.
Tomorrow the two rivals have at it again at 6:15 CT.
The game is televised on Apple TV.