The Astros have been through it lately. There was a brief stretch where things were looking up, they'd climbed back to .500 and were leading the AL West. But that didn't last. Right when it looked like they should've been running away with the division, they turned around and dropped series after series to some of the worst teams in the league, and things have looked shaky ever since.
The Yankees may not have Aaron Judge right now, but they are still the Yankees, and the Astros were a bit shaken up in more ways than one heading into this series. Between the ugly losses, the Astros also fired their GM, Dana Brown, and Joe Espada was informed his contract would not be renewed but was given the option to finish out the season, which he decided to do.
Going from the embarrassing loss to the Angels to dropping the series to the next-worst team, the Athletics, the Astros walked into a series against the New York Yankees, who are not only better than anyone in the AL West, but also bring along the pressure of New York.
That's the position Houston was in Tuesday night. And somehow, they came out on top.
The Houston Astros held their own and took the series opener against the Yankees, winning 9-7. Somehow they were absolutely destroyed by the worst team in baseball just days earlier, but they kept the Yankees on their toes all night.
A handful of players stepped up to make this one happen. Yainer Diaz did the most damage, with two home runs and three RBIs. Then there is Yordan Alvarez, who went 3 for 5 with a go-ahead triple in the eighth, and Jeremy Peña broke out of a quiet night at the plate with a two-run homer to tie the game. Daulton Varsho and Isaac Paredes each added RBI singles, and the bullpen, Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader, shut the door.
Considering everything the Astros have had to deal with over the past week, a GM firing, a manager on his way out, and back-to-back series losses to the two worst teams in the league, they needed this. Now, if only momentum had proven to be beneficial for the Astros in the past. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the series pans out.
