Yanks/Stros In October Sounds Tasty!
You never want to get nuts with a late June series, one way or another if you’re a Major League team.
That said, there was a heightened sense of adrenaline kicking in the Bronx this past weekend for the Yankees-Astros series.
After Sunday’s finale finished up, my first thought was.
Man, can we get 7 of these come October?
The Yankees and the Astros have developed quite the rivalry over the last couple of seasons.
They’ve played multiple playoff series, both teams have won a whole lot of games, and of course the bad blood from the 2017 cheating scandal.
There is no love lost for the Yankees and the Astros.
There is certainly no love lost for Astros star Jose Altuve from the Yankee faithful.
However, the rivalry has been pretty one-sided in games that really matter.
The Astros are responsible for eliminating the Yankees from the 2015 Wild Card game and the 2017 & 2019 American League Championship Series.
Cheaters or not, the Astros have pretty much owned the Yankees.
I looked at this past weekend as a great litmus test for the red hot Bombers.
As far as I’m concerned, the Yankees passed the initial tough test.
They split the four games, but the wins and losses featured two different subplots.
The two wins on Thursday & Sunday displayed the grit and intestinal fortitude that has been on full display in the Bronx all summer.
On Thursday, the Yankees were down 3 in the 9th inning. Aaron Hicks hit a 3 run bomb to tie it and Aaron Judge walked it off with a double.
Friday and Saturday didn’t go quite as well for the Yankee bats.
They were shut down by Yankee nemesis Justin Verlander on Friday night and on Saturday, the Yankees were no-hit for the first time since 2003.
Ironically enough, the last team to no-hit the Yankees was the Houston Astros, the same exact script that took shape on Saturday afternoon.
Sunday wasn’t looking particularly good for 6 innings.
The Yankees once again were being no-hit, but the difference between the 2021 Yankees and this year’s team was on full display.
The Yankees scratched and clawed their way back. A couple of homers to tie the game and an Aaron Judge walk-off bomb in extras to win it.
It was an electric weekend of baseball in the Bronx.
Two terrific teams, star power all over the field, and exactly the sort of series you’d want to see come October.
The Yankees have a whole lot cooking in 2022. If they want to win it all, they must slay the dragon that is a very dangerous Houston Astros team.
Theater that I would most certainly pay to see!
You can listen to my podcast New York, New York every Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday on The Ringer Podcast Network on Spotify/Apple Podcasts. You can watch me nightly on Geico Sportsnight following Mets postgame on SNY.
