The past week hasn’t been good to the idea that the Yankees are an unbeatable machine, one that’s destined for a long-awaited return to the mountaintop.
Thursday’s 2-1 loss to the Astros is the Yankees’ third in their five games against Houston this week. The two wins both came on walk-offs in which they were losing in the eighth inning, too. If not for those two late-inning comebacks (or, if you prefer the blame game, meltdowns from the Astros’ bullpen), we’d be talking about a Yankees team that could set the franchise record for wins without ever beating the team most likely to block their path to the World Series.
It’s the Astros’ starting pitching that has specifically doomed the Yankees. The most runs the Yankees have scored against a Houston starting pitcher is three, which came off Framber Valdez in the first game of the two teams’ recent meetings.
