Carlos Gomez and Evan Gattis both homered and drove in four runs, sending Dallas Keuchel and the Houston Astros to a 15-1 blowout of the New York Yankees that briefly got testy Tuesday night.
Keuchel (15-6) held New York scoreless for the second time this season and became the first 15-game winner in the American League.
Gomez busted out of a hitting slump along with several teammates and rankled the Yankees with his flashy style.
The center fielder jawed with players in New York’s dugout after flipping his bat aside when he flied out in the sixth inning, then stood nose to nose with young catcher John Ryan Murphy before they were separated. Both benches and bullpens emptied, but the teams quickly went their respective ways without any pushing or shoving.
His next time up, Gomez launched a three-run homer into the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center to cap a six-run seventh.
Gomez flipped his bat away and held out his arms when he lined an RBI double during Houston’s five-run first inning against an ineffective Ivan Nova (5-6). The speedy Gomez slid headfirst into second with his first extra-base hit in 18 games and pointed toward his own dugout.
It was hardly the first time opponents have been irritated by Gomez and his antics.
Back when he was playing for Milwaukee and current Yankees catcher Brian McCann was in Atlanta, the two got into a scuffle when McCann blocked Gomez’s path to home plate after the slugger styled on a home run.
This time, McCann was on the Yankees’ bench — rested against a lefty starter. Gomez turned toward the New York dugout following his sixth-inning fly and appeared to say “shut up” several times.
Keuchel yielded three hits in seven innings with nine strikeouts and no walks. He pitched a six-hit shutout at home against the Yankees on June 25.
New York scratched out a run in the ninth this time against Vince Velasquez.
In a lopsided matchup of AL division leaders, the most effective Yankees pitcher was backup infielder Brendan Ryan. He worked two innings in his first major league pitching appearance and was the only New York hurler who didn’t give up a run.
Marwin Gonzalez homered for the Astros, who batted around three times in the first seven innings after manager A.J. Hinch shuffled his lineup. Houston, which equaled last season’s total of 70 wins, managed only 17 runs in its previous eight games — no more than three in any of them.
Via AP