Game 126: Yankees vs. Astros

YANKEES (69-56)
Brett Gardner CF
Carlos Beltran RF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Brian McCann C
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Chris Young LF
Stephen Drew 2B

RHP Michael Pineda (9-7, 3.97)
Pineda vs. Astros

ASTROS (70-57)
Jose Altuve 2B
Marwin Gonzalez SS
Jed Lowrie 3B
Colby Rasmus RF
Evan Gattis DH
Carlos Gomez CF
Luis Valbuena 1B
Jake Marisnick LF
Jason Castro C

RHP Collin McHugh (13-7, 3.96)
McHugh vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m., YES Network and MLB Network

WEATHER: Clear skies. Temperatures in the high 70s. Nice way to finish off the home stand.

UMPIRES: HP Sam Holbrook, 1B Tripp Gibson, 2B Gabe Morales, 3B Eric Cooper

NOT A GOOD FIRST EXPERIENCE: None of the active Yankees has more than three career at-bats against Collin McHugh, but those three at-bats apiece have not gone well. The current Yankees roster — including Dustin Ackley — has a career slash line of .053/.143/.053 against the Houston starter. The only Yankees who have a hit against him are Brett Gardner and Alex Rodriguez.

HOT AS ‘ELL: Not a good time for Jacoby Ellsbury to miss time with an injury. He has recorded multiple hits in eight of his last 13 games (12 starts) since August 13. In that time, he’s batting .364 with seven runs, two doubles, a home run a triple, two walks and three stolen bases. His 20 hits in that span are tied for the third-most in the Majors.

ALSO ON A HOT STREAK: Carlos Beltran extended his hitting streak to nine games with a fourth-inning double on Tuesday. He?has three of the Yankees’ 10 hitting streaks of at least nine games this season, including a team season-high 15-game hitting streak in May and a 10-game streak earlier this month.

UPDATE, 1:22 p.m.: Single and stolen base for Jose Altuve, but Pineda gets through the first inning without allowing a run.

UPDATE, 1:34 p.m.: First pitch of the second inning is a home run by Evan Gattis. It’s a 1-0 Astros lead.

UPDATE, 1:56 p.m.: Pineda’s allowed one run and two hits through three innings. Yankees have three hits but no runs through two.

UPDATE, 2:27 p.m.: One run has scored and the Astros’ lead is up to 2-0 with the bases loaded in the fifth. Chasen Shreve is getting loose.

UPDATE, 2:34 p.m.: Two runs have now scored and Shreve is in the game. Pineda looked good for a while, but the game got away from him in the fifth.

UPDATE, 2:40 p.m.: Not good for the Yankees. Shreve has allowed a single and walk, letting one run score while loading the bases for Rasmus. Now Pinder is getting loose.

UPDATE, 2:58 p.m.: Here’s Pinder to start the sixth. Yankees have four hits and no runs. At a real risk of scoring just one run this series. Amazing how completely this offense can disappear at times.

UPDATE, 3:20 p.m.: Leadoff walk, but the Yankees can’t take advantage. Still down 5-0 heading into the seventh.

UPDATE, 3:37 p.m.: Two-run homer by Gregorius has the Yankees on the board in the seventh inning. It’s 5-2. The Yankees just scored as many runs on one swing as they’d scored in the previous two games combined.

UPDATE, 3:52 p.m.: Second homer of the day for Evan Gattis. It’s now 6-2 Houston.

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