HOUSTON — Aaron Judge ran up the first base line with his bat in his right hand in the eighth inning Thursday night, hoping he’d broken the spell. The Yankees slugger watched in almost disbelief as the fly ball he hit hard died just over the right-field warning track and Houston right fielder Kyle Tucker ran back and easily grabbed it.
Minute Maid Park is seemingly where the Yankees bats have come to die. Framber Valdez was dominant, just like Justin Verlander the night before, as the Astros beat the Yankees 3-2 in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.
The Astros take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, which heads back to the Bronx for Game 3 on Saturday. The Yankees have their ace Gerrit Cole set to start the critical tilt at Yankees Stadium. MLB teams taking a 2-0 series’ lead in a best-of-seven have gone on to win in 74 of 88 (84.1%) series all-time. The Astros have now won eight of nine home playoff games all-time against the Yankees. The Astros pitching has limited the Bombers to just 13 runs across those eight losses.
