Yanks grab 3-2 lead
Tanaka allows three hits in seven innings, striking out eight.
This time, it was NEW YORK —
Masahiro Tanaka who was untouchable on the mound.
And when the New York Yankees sent Houston ace Dallas Keuchel to an early exit, their rollicking crowd let loose with a cathartic roar that must have boomed all over the Bronx.
“New York is no joke,” Keuchel said afterward.
One more big win, and these Yankees are World Series-bound.
Tanaka pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, and New York finally solved a longtime nemesis at just the right moment, beating Keuchel and the Astros 5-0 on Wednesday for a 3-2 lead in the AL Championship Series.
“What a performance,” Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier said about Tanaka. “Just gutsy.”
Gary Sanchez hit an RBI single off Keuchel and later homered to help the wildcard Yankees win for the third straight day at home, moving them within one victory of their first pennant since 2009 and record 41st overall.
The teams head back to Houston for Game 6 tonight, when Justin Verlander and the reeling Astros will try to regain their footing following an off day and force a decisive Game 7. Luis Severino is scheduled to start for New York.
Houston arrived in New York up 2-0 and appeared to be closing in on its second World Series appearance. But the Astros, like defending AL champion Cleveland before them, have been unable to put away these poised Yankees, who improved to 6-0 at home this postseason in front of their cheering, chanting fans.
New York has won 19 of its past 22 games at Yankee Stadium.
“It’s been unbelievable. I haven’t seen anything like it in Major League Baseball,” Yankees infielder Chase Headley said. “Reminds me of college football games. They’re going crazy the entire game. It’s a huge advantage for us.”
Aaron Judge, Greg Bird and Didi Gregorius also delivered big hits as New York chased Keuchel in the fifth and handed him his first postseason loss.
Keuchel had been Yankees kryptonite, entering 6-2 with a 1.09 ERA in eight career starts against New York — including a pair of scoreless outings in playoff wins.
Both of those came at the expense of Tanaka, who lost 3-0 to Keuchel in the 2015 AL wild-card game at Yankee Stadium and 2-1 in Game 1 of this series.
New York finally broke through against Keuchel with two outs in the second, when Starlin Castro doubled and scored on Greg Bird’s sharp single. The sellout crowd of 49,647 almost sounded surprised by the hit — big enough for Bird to flash both thumbs down, doubling up on the Yankees’ playful sign to each other for clutch swings.
In the third, Judge grounded an RBI double just inside the third base line and past a diving Alex Bregman. Brett Gardner sped all the way around from first and scored with a headfirst slide.
Bregman’s throwing error on an infield single by Headley, who had three hits in the No. 9 spot, aided the Yankees in the fifth. Keuchel walked Judge with two outs before Sanchez lined a run-scoring single into the left-field corner.
Going into that at-bat, Sanchez was 1 for 16 with seven strikeouts in the series — and 0 for 8 with six strikeouts against Keuchel overall.
Gregorius then grounded an RBI single up the middle that grazed the glove of diving second baseman Jose Altuve. That ended the night for Keuchel and gave the Yankees a 4-0 cushion, the most runs he had ever allowed against them.
Sanchez hit his third postseason homer in the seventh off Brad Peacock to make it 5-0.