Yankees no-hit by Astros as offense wastes Gerrit Cole gem in shutout loss

The villainous Astros now have no-hit the Yankees twice, to go with their three postseason eliminations of the Bombers. An overpowering Cristian Javier combined with two relief pitchers to neuter MLB’s highest-scoring offense and deliver just the second no-hitter thrown against the Yankees in The Bronx since 1952. Backed by a pair of solo home runs — one from the relentlessly booed Jose Altuve — the Astros won, 3-0, at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

After Giancarlo Stanton grounded out to end the game, the Astros spilled out of the dugout and jumped the crowd hopping on the pitcher’s mound around closer Ryan Pressly. The Astros used six pitchers to no-hit the Yankees in 2003, before there was so much bad blood fueling a rivalry. Since then, the Astros have ended the Yankees’ seasons in 2015, 2017 and 2019 — and now Javier’s 13-strikeout brilliance over seven innings has added a new chapter.

History looked possible from the early going. The first 29 batters of the game for both teams combined went 0-for-26 with three walks. One start after carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Rays, Yankees ace Gerrit Cole did not allow a hit until back-to-back two-out singles by Jake Meyers and Martin Maldonado in the fifth.

Altuve — despised for his role in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal and possibly for stealing an MVP award from Aaron Judge — flew out to end that threat, but made his splash in the eighth inning off Michael King. Cole’s 101st pitch was his big mistake. J.

J. Matijevic turned on a low-inside fastball and deposited it into the right-field seats for a homer. The rookie first baseman’s only two career hits are solo home runs, but his swing was enough to ensure Cole has no wins to show for his back-to-back gems.

The game, however, belonged to Javier, who threw his four-seam fastball 69 percent of the time in seven innings. He was replaced by Hector Neris after throwing 71 of his 115 pitches for strikes. The no-hitter didn’t arrive without its tense moments.

Neris walked two of the first three hitters he faced in the eighth inning and seemed exasperated with the strike zone, lifting his hands to his head multiple times and talking to himself when close calls went against him. Joey Gallo, up with one out and perhaps sensing a loss of focus, jumped on the first pitch and skied a towering fly ball that died on the right-field warning track. With runners on the corners and two outs, Judge grounded out and Neris walked off the mound furiously pounding his chest.

Javier, a 25-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic, was making his 29th career start in his 62nd career appearance. He shaved his ERA from 3. 07 to 2.

73. The only Yankee to reach base through the first six innings was Josh Donaldson, who walked with two outs in the first. Javier retired the next 17 hitters in order before Donaldson reached again on third baseman Alex Bregman’s throwing error.

If not for an improbable four-run, ninth-inning rally on Thursday, the Yankees would have lost the first three games of this series to their biggest challenger for American League supremacy. Cole’s third start against his former team since joining the Yankees closely resembled the second, when he threw a career-high 129 pitches and struck out 12 in a three-hit shutout on July 10 of last season. For an encore, he allowed four hits and two walks while striking out eight in seven innings Saturday.

But it would have taken perfecttion — at least — for Cole to outduel Javier. .