New York Rallies To Beat Houston As Gleyber Torres Gets Walk-Off Hit
It's a long season and every game, every win isn't always going to the prettiest performance and that was the case Tuesday night in game two of the three -game series as New York took on Houston.
The Yankees were not apologizing as they crept out of their own clubhouse with a stolen victory over the defending World Series champions, despite committing a season-high five errors. Showcasing a blend of good fortune, confidence and resilience, they had just enjoyed the kind of evening that can cement a team's identity. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
Brett Gardner homered twice, including a tying blast in the ninth inning, and Aaron Judge also went deep before rookie sensation Gleyber Torres delivered the deciding hit. The Yankees rallied late for a 6-5, 10-inning victory over the Astros on Tuesday, setting off a frenzied celebration at Yankee Stadium. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torre
"I thought it was a really good win tonight," Gardner said. "We didn't play our best baseball. Any time you make five errors and can hang around and sneak away with a win, you take it." "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
With closer Ken Giles unavailable, the Astros turned to Chris Devenski for the final three outs, asking the right-hander to protect a two-run lead. Miguel Andujar led off the ninth with a walk, and Gardner followed with a drive that cleared the auxiliary scoreboard in right field, marking the outfielder's sixth career multi-homer game. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
Brad Peacock retired the first two batters in the 10th before Andujar stroked a two-out double. Torres stifled his anger after a questionable called strike, saying that he took a breath to remain focused. He then fouled off a pair of fastballs to remain alive before barreling a line-drive single to right field, chasing home the deciding run. It is Torres' second walk-off hit in his young career (joining 5/6/18 vs. Cleveland), and the Yankees' fifth this season. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
"It's amazing," Torres said. "Gardy did a great job; that two home runs is amazing. I'm just waiting for my opportunity to help my team. I saw Andujar get that double. I just try to do my job and enjoy, try to help my team, and after that enjoy the moment. I think that is the most important for me." "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
Mobbed by his teammates down the first-base line following his second career game-winning hit, Torres enjoyed a pair of celebratory dousings, courtesy of Gardner and Didi Gregorius. He said that the icy liquid felt "great." "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
"Being that young and playing for this organization, there's a lot of pressure," CC Sabathia said. "For him to be able to deliver in these moments, it just means there's more to come." "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
The gleeful scene papered over eight mostly sloppy innings for the Yankees, who spoiled Charlie Morton's 10-strikeout quality start -- including Gardner's leadoff homer and Judge's fifth-inning rocket to the second deck in right field -- but also threw the ball around behind Sabathia. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
Houston took advantage of the Yanks' ugliest defensive showing since a five-error day against the Rangers on July 21, 2014. Torres committed two of the miscues, one on a throw and one on a bobble, while Sabathia, Andujar and Gary Sanchez each added one. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
"When you're playing a really good team, a world championship team like the Astros, it's tough to overcome that," manager Aaron Boone said. "For a while there, it was a little bit frustrating. The thing that really excited me all night was our at-bat quality against Morton, and I thought we made him work really hard. I thought we put together a lot of good at-bats against him, and these guys just continue to peck away when it doesn't look great." "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
Evan Gattis hit a solo homer in the second inning, and Marwin Gonzalez drilled a two-run double to the wall in left-center field in the fourth off Sabathia, who also yielded a run-scoring hit to Yuli Gurriel and a Gattis sacrifice fly in the fifth. Yet both Boone and Sabathia were encouraged by the veteran's stuff, and even more by the ending. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
"I just said to somebody in here: 'Teams don't win games when they make five errors,'" Sabathia said. "The way this team bounced back, put some good at-bats together and got some clutch hits, it just shows you a lot about this team." "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
SOUND SMART
Tuesday marked the Yankees' first victory when committing five or more errors since a 3-2 win over the White Sox on April 19, 1997, at Chicago's Comiskey Park, and just their fourth such game since 1960. The Yankees were involved in the last such occurrence league-wide; last July 7, the Brewers made five errors but still departed Yankee Stadium with a 9-4 win. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Aroldis Chapman found a creative way to record the final out in the Astros' half of the 10th inning. After a two-out walk to Tony Kemp, Chapman threw a wild pitch that advanced Kemp to second, then uncorked another 100.3-mph wild pitch that sailed to the screen behind home plate. The ball bounced directly to the catcher Sanchez, who fired to third base, where an incredulous Kemp was tagged out. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
"I thought it was a really heads-up play by Gary," Boone said. "He's seen enough balls kind of ricochet off there, and it actually was a good play by Andujar, too, because we were actually eating the ball in that situation had they done a traditional steal there with two outs, so the awareness of Miggy to get there and cover … that was obviously a big play for us." "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
HE SAID IT
"I was in college when I was his age. It took me a little longer to get here. It's amazing what these kids can do these days." -- Gardner, on Torres "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606
With the win, New York improves to 34-17 on the regular season but still is behind two games to their American League East rival Boston who is leading the division. With Houston taking the loss they drop to 35-21 but are still leading the American League West. "according to http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/
UP NEXT
Luis Severino (7-1, 2.28 ERA) will be on the mound as the Yankees and Astros complete their three-game series on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. ET. Severino took a no-decision in his last start, a 2-1 Yankees victory over the Angels, in which he allowed a run on four hits over six innings. Severino's best start of the year came on May 2 at Houston, a shutout. Dallas Keuchel (3-6, 3.39 ERA) will start for the Astros. "according to https://www.mlb.com/yankees/news/brett-gardner-gleyber-torres-lead-yankees-win/c-278849606