The Houston Astros defeated the New York Yankees 9-7 on Tuesday night inside Yankee Stadium. The win came in the first game since the Astros and General Manager Dana Brown parted ways.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Yankees (74-57) went with Will Warren on the mound, who entered play 8-6 with a 4.43 ERA. Warren gave up a couple of singles in the first but worked around them and got it to the bottom half scoreless.
The Astros (66-66) countered with youngster Ethan Pecko, making just his second Big League start. He allowed a two-out single but also held the Yankees without a first inning run.
The Astros would get on the board first, scoring single tallies in the second and third innings. In the second, Yainer Diaz hit a solo shot to left. Then, Daulton Varsho drove in another with an RBI single, giving Houston a 2-0 lead.
That two-run advantage was short-lived. In the bottom of the third, New York got themselves on the board. Cody Bellinger hit a three-run homer to give the Yankees their first lead of the night at 3-2.
Varsho delivered another RBI hit for Houston in the fifth, bringing home the tying run to make it even once more at 3-3.
New York added a pair in the bottom of the fifth when Luis Garcia Jr hit a two-run home run. Those two runs were answered by a Jeremy Pena two-run shot in the top of the sixth. The score was tied 5-5 when the dust settled.
The theme of the Yankees taking the lead and Astros answering back happened again in the late innings. Garcia Jr drove home the go ahead run for New York in the bottom of the seventh. However, Diaz hit his second homer of the night in the eighth to even it up 6-6.
The Astros finally gained another lead in this one in the eighth. Yordan Alvarez registered an RBI triple on his third hit of the night. Then, Isaac Paredes followed that with an RBI single to give Houston an 8-6 advantage.
Both teams added single runs in their next at-bats, making the score 9-7. Josh Hader was able to execute a four-out save, clinching an important win for the Astros.
BIG NUMBER: 9
The Astros offense came to life in this game, banging out 14 hits and scoring nine runs in the victory. The nine runs scored marks the most in a game for Houston since August 14th when they scored 10 against the Mariners.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Yainer Diaz
Diaz was huge for Houston in this one. He slugged two homers and also drove home a run in the ninth with an RBI hit. His nine total bases and three RBIs helped the Astros get the victory.
UP NEXT: The Astros and Yankees will play again tomorrow night at 6:05 PM. You can listen to the action on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.