Four Games In June Between The Houston Astros And New York Yankees Provided Compelling And Historic Theater

SportsMoney Four Games In June Between The Houston Astros And New York Yankees Provided Compelling And Historic Theater Larry Fleisher Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I’ve covered the New York sports scene for over a decade New! Follow this author to improve your content experience. Got it! Jun 26, 2022, 11:50pm EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) watches his game-winning home run ball in the tenth .

. . [+] inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros.

The New York Yankees won 6-3. Sunday, June 26, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K.

Murray) ASSOCIATED PRESS There was a time when any of the 19 games between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees featured must see qualities and to an extent, especially for those deciding baseball programing they still are. The peak of Yankees-Red Sox occurred in 2003 and 2004 when the longtime rivals split 38 regular-season games and then traded historic seven-game wins in the American League Championship Series. To a somewhat similar extent but less of a sample size because of geography, games between the Yankees and Astros are taking on those qualities, especially the compelling nature the teams spent this weekend duking it out over the course of 13 hours, 28 minutes.

Like those games between the Yankees and Red Sox, these games left anyone watching yearning for more. The only three remaining are Thursday and a doubleheader July 21 in Houston, but these games offered plenty in the 1,201 pitches seen by both teams from the dramatic to the historic. On Thursday, it seemed the Astros were headed for a routine three-run win as they sped out to a six-run lead, saw it sliced in half entering the ninth — the inning they were 39-0 when taking a lead into.

This time the Astros let the ninth slip away when Aaron Hicks slugged a three-run homer off Ryan Pressly and Judge followed with a game-winning single on a 3-0 splitter against Ryne Stanek. It created a feeling of sleeplessness for the Astros but it’s a good chance they were not too unsettled since Justin Verlander was on the mound next. And pitch is exactly what Verlander did, getting better over the final few innings and holding the Yankees to one run in seven innings while displaying his best fastball velocity of the season.

MORE FOR YOU WWE Extreme Rules 2021 Results: Winners, News And Notes As Roman Reigns Beats The Demon The World’s Highest-Paid Soccer Players 2021: Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo Reclaims Top Spot From PSG’s Lionel Messi The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Green Bay Packers’ Win Over The San Francisco 49ers All throughout the Astros clubhouse a theme of reassurance with Verlander on the mounded was presented and the various players certainly agreed while also citing the entire pitching staff. “We kind of feel like that with everyone honestly,” Houston right fielder Kyle Tucker said Friday night while glancing at Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final in the background on the clubhouse television. “Our pitching staff’s done a phenomenal job all year and we’re confident with whoever’s out on the mound.

tonight. ” If there was a more foreshadowing statement that might have been it. About 15 hours after Tucker noted Houston’s entire pitching staff is phenomenal, Cristian Javier took the mound for what ultimately became the biggest day of his career that began with him signing for $10,000 on March 18, 2015 that now consists of 14 wins, 265 strikeouts, 62 appearances, 29 starts and one no-hitter.

“In the bullpen today before the game, pitches were doing what I wanted,” Javier said. Houston Astros players, from left, relief pitcher Ryan Pressly, catcher Martin Maldonado, relief . .

. [+] pitcher Hector Neris, and starting pitcher Cristian Javier celebrate after a combined no-hitter against the New York Yankees. Saturday, June 25, 2022, in New York.

The Houston Astros won 3-0. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray) ASSOCIATED PRESS It was a three-pitcher no-hitter, giving the Astros two of those games over the Yankees with a combined nine pitchers and featured 150 pitches by Houston’s pitching staff in each game.

(though baseball-reference’s boxscore has 151). Nineteen years and 14 days after Roy Oswalt’s injury created the six-pitcher combined no-hitter on June 11, 2003, Javier threw the first 115 of Houston’s no-hit pitches, getting 13 strikeouts on those. And when Pressly closed out it by getting Giancarlo Stanton on a harmless ground ball the Astros celebrated along with anyone in attendance who had never seen a no-hitter before.

“A no-hitter is pretty special either way, anywhere you do it,” Pressly said. “The fact that it was here in Yankee Stadium, that’s a really good lineup over there. Those are some good hitters.

It’s special, but I think if you throw a no-hitter, in general, it’s going to be special. ” And for 6 1/3 innings on Sunday, the pitches coming out Jose Urquidy’s of right hand were doing what he desired, though there were a few more close calls with a few warning track flyballs and shortstop Jeremy Pena ranging several steps to his left to retire DJ LeMahieu. At 3:51 p.

m. Urquidy’s 91st pitch betrayed him and delighted the Yankees when Stanton blasted a fastball to the netting above Monument Park in center field, ending any dreams of a second straight no-hitter. It sparked a comeback and ended a stretch where the Yankees went 280 pitches without a hit spanning 16 1/3 innings, the longest hitless skid for a team since 1961 according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Ninety-three minutes after Stanton’s blast got the no-hitter portion of the proceedings done, the Yankees completed a compelling June series when Judge’s highly eventful week continued. He nearly hit a game-tying homer Tuesday in Tampa, hit two more the next night, got the game-winning hit and narrowly avoided an arbitration hearing by agreeing to a one-year, $19 million deal at 12:45 pm on Friday afternoon. Judge was relieved to avoid the hearing but did not appear thrilled it even came to the verge of reaching a hearing 11 weeks after Brian Cashman told a packed media gathering and anyone else who saw the footage that their star rejected a seven-year, $213 million deal.

While it was a move perhaps designed to get the fans wondering how Judge turn it down, Judge’s performance is prompting calls of “pay the man” “name his price” before it gets late early. About 43 hours after not sounding thrilled about the drawn-out arbitration process, Judge blasted a slider from Seth Martinez into the visiting bullpen, was mobbed at the plate, capping a series the featured plenty of star performances and some really unexpected ones. New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) celebrates with New York Yankees second baseman Matt .

. . [+] Carpenter (24) after hitting a game-winning home run against the Houston Astros during the 10th inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 26, 2022, in New York.

The New York Yankees won 6-3. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray) ASSOCIATED PRESS It all added up to as compelling of a four-game series any teams could play at the end of June and it left anyone who witnessed any portion if not all of this weekend salivating for more which could be in October when the Yankees try to foil the Astros for the first time in a postseason series.

“We’ve seen each other a lot in years past in the postseason,” Judge said. “Anytime we play, it’s always gonna be a good ballgame. I think the fans anticipate that and they bring their energy from the first pitch on.

That’s what you love, you look forward to playing good teams, and seeing where you stack up in the AL. ” It was a similar sentiment echoed by catcher Martin Maldonado about 25 hours earlier after guiding his pitchers through their historic achievement. “We love competing out there, especially coming against good teams,” Maldonado said.

“We felt like it was the playoffs coming into the series. ” Follow me on Twitter . Larry Fleisher Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.