Yankees on Brink of Elimination After Another Lifeless ALCS Performance
NEW YORK — All season long, the Yankees and Astros were a leg above the rest of the American League, making history and dominating the competition. A rematch in the Championship Series was in the back of everyone's minds, a chance for New York to finally get over the hump and return to the World Series for the first time in over a decade.
Through the first three games of this ALCS, however, the Yankees have shown that they don't belong in the same heavyweight class as Houston. If they can't find a way to recapture their form from earlier this spring, when they paced baseball with the best record in the league throughout the first half, they'll be watching the Fall Classic from home once again.
Needing to shake their offensive woes to hang with Houston's dynamic pitching staff, the Yankees produced yet another lifeless performance in Game 3 of the ALCS on Saturday night, a 5-0 loss.
Before back-to-back singles with two outs in the ninth inning, the Yankees had one hit in this game. They struck out 10 times. New York is now hitting .128 (12-for-94) on offense with four runs scored (two unearned) and 41 strikeouts in this series.
Gerrit Cole took the ball for New York, looking to set the tone for the home team and turn this series around. The ace ended up allowing three earned runs in five-plus innings, striking out seven while taking the loss.
Cole threw 21 pitches to get through the first inning, laboring as he struck out three, hit a batter and allowed a two-strike, two-out single to Alex Bregman. The right-hander responded with what seemed to be an efficient frame in the second, inducing what should have been an inning-ending fly out to right-center field. That bloop off the bat of catcher Christian Vazquez ended up falling, popping out of center fielder Harrison Bader's glove as he ranged to his left.
In the books, it's an E-8, allowing Vazquez to reach. The mistake was on Aaron Judge in right field, though, distracting Bader and nearly colliding with the center fielder, impacting his ability to make the grab.
With new life, the Astros took advantage. Three pitches later, on a four-seam fastball over the heart of the plate, center fielder Chas McCormick smoked a two-run home run off the top of the right-field wall and into the seats beyond the short porch, Cole's kryptonite.
McCormick's opposite-field blast was the 36th home run that Cole has given up in 2022. He led the American League with 33 home runs allowed in the regular season and has now surrendered at least one homer in 11 consecutive starts (dating back to August 26).
Cole settled down and was able to pitch around traffic over the next few innings, but his effectiveness vanished in the sixth. Bregman doubled to start the inning, followed by a Kyle Tucker walk and a weak single down the right-field line from Yuli Gurriel.
With the bases loaded and nobody out—and Cole's pitch count at 96—Yankees manager Aaron Boone made the slow walk out to the mound. Cole looked ticked off by the decision, but obliged, exiting the game to an apprehensive standing ovation.
Reliever Lou Trivino replaced Cole with the bases juiced and proceeded to allow all three runs to score. Trey Mancini drove the first in with a sacrifice fly to left before Vazquez made it a 5-0 ballgame, lining a two-run single to left.
Once Trivino got out of the inning, the Yankees were booed lustily off the field. That was just the beginning of a long night of boos in the Bronx. You can't blame the fans either. New York needed to make a statement and respond in their return to Yankee Stadium after two tough losses in Houston. Instead, they didn't show up on the national stage for the third straight game.
Now, their backs are truly against the wall. One more loss and New York goes home for what's poised to be a long, cold winter.
The final three hitters in Houston's order accounted for all five of the Astros' runs batted in on Saturday.
MORE:
- Nestor Cortes: Aaron Judge Should Be Yankees’ Captain If He Returns
- Aaron Boone Sticking With Josh Donaldson at Third Base
- Yankees' Offense Has Disappeared When They Need It Most
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