The Houston Astros settled things up at Yankee Stadium Thursday night, taking two out of three from the New York Yankees. On paper, it would be easy to say a surprising series win, but based on the ups and downs, you really never know what you're going to get from the Astros.
They get destroyed by the worst team in baseball, and then take two out of three from one of the best. The Astros are now back right at .500; they are 67-67 with the Rangers close behind at 66-68 and .493.
Here is a look at the game where the Astros made their way back to .500.
Hayden Wesneski took the mound for Houston and had his best start since returning from Tommy John. A great sign that their pitching staff has another reliable arm in the rotation.
Jeremy Peña was hit by a pitch right in the hand. He was escorted to first but stayed in the game. That brought up Paredes, who had an opposite-field single to bring Peña home and put the Astros on the board. Not often you see someone score from first base on a single.
It was a pretty tame game, both pitchers doing well, throwing strikes and limiting hits and runs. The Yankees attempted a double play, but couldn't get it done, and then had to face Alvarez. Luckily for the Yankees, they struck him out to end the inning.
Wesneski kept the Yankees off the board through five, allowing just one run over five-plus innings.
It wasn't until the sixth that there was a little excitement. Christian Walker crushed a two-run shot to give the Astros a 3-0 lead. Cole was angry, to say the least, screaming into his towel in the dugout.
Bellinger gave the Yankees their only run with a sac fly. Lombard followed with a triple off the wall that Varsho couldn't track down, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Paredes took care of a pop-up to end the threat.
Jeremy Peña got the Astros fans fired up with a home run in the seventh, number 16 of the season. Yainer Diaz hit a grounder, and the Yankees completely botched the play, allowing Walker to score for a 5-1 Astros lead in the 8th. That extended Lombard's error streak to six straight games.
Josh Hader closed out the 9th inning. Varsho put it away at the wall.
The Astros continue their time in New York but head to Queens next to take on the Mets at Citi Field. The Mets are currently sitting in last place in the NL East at 60-74, but the Astros have shown they are capable of getting crushed by a last-place team, so it will be interesting to see how this series plays out.
