Jake Meyers, other Astros go deep to split series with Yankees – The Denver Post

The Yankees had a chance to win their four-game series against the Astros on Sunday, but they had to settle for a split after Houston won the finale, 9-7, by launching four home runs.

Two of those came from the Astros’ No. 8 hitter, Jake Meyers. The outfielder crushed a pair of three-run shots in the second and sixth innings. The initial homer, hit off Carlos Rodón, followed a missed check-swing call on Jeremy Peña.

The Astros’ other longballs were supplied by Yordan Alvarez and Martín Maldonado in the third and sixth innings, respectively. Alvarez drilled a two-run blast to right.

With the loss, the Yankees are now 4.5 games out of the final wild card spot with 50 games to play this season. This is the furthest the Yankees have been from a playoff position this year.

“No concern at all,” Harrison Bader said of the standings. “One game at a time. We keep playing this brand of baseball, it’s gonna be just fine. All you can do is put yourself in a position to win, and that’s what we did, which feels really good moving forward, especially with 50 left.”

The Yankees actually started the homer parade when Gleyber Torres went deep with no one on in the first inning, but most of their runs came from going station to station with the bases loaded in the fourth inning. That frame saw the Yankees score runs on a Bader single, an Anthony Volpe hit-by-pitch and walks from Jake Bauers and Aaron Judge.

Torres added an RBI double in the sixth, while Bader came up with another bases-loaded single in the eighth. But that wasn’t enough for the Yankees to top their rivals, who occupy a wild card spot.

The Yankees put themselves in a position to win, as Bader noted, but Giancarlo Stanton ended the game with a deep flyout to center with two runners on.

“Actually, I feel like the complete opposite,” Bader said when asked if Sunday was a missed opportunity. “I thought that was, for the first time in a long time, a really good game and a really good battle, and there wasn’t a single time during that game, regardless of what was happening on the other side, where we felt like we were out of it.

“I think it was actually a really big momentum boost for us moving forward.”

While Bader offered a positive perspective, the Yankees left 15 runners on base and went 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

“I mean, 3-for-12 is about what you’re gonna hit,” Aaron Boone said of numbers that equate to a .250 average. “You’ll take seven runs and try and make that stand up, but we’re probably one big swing away from a double-digit day.”

It didn’t help that Rodón pitched poorly before departing after 2.2 innings with left hamstring tightness. He will get an MRI on Monday, though he felt good about avoiding the injured list prior to imaging.

“In this moment, I feel pretty confident that I should be able to pitch,” Rodón said after the game.

Rodón, making his sixth start for the Yankees, allowed Meyers’ first home run and the Alvarez dinger. The southpaw totaled three hits, five earned runs, two walks, five strikeouts and 58 pitches. He now has a 7.33 ERA this season.

Despite leaving with an injury, Rodón exited to a chorus of boos after another subpar performance. While he and Boone noted that walks have hurt the hurler, Rodón has also surrendered eight home runs after giving up just 12 over 31 starts last year.

“I’m getting up there quick,” he said. “I would like them to stop. That’s a fact.

“I’m pretty frustrated with how I’m performing right now, that’s for sure.”

Wandy Peralta, who pitched 1.2 innings and faced some righties with the Yankees’ bullpen short-handed, allowed Meyers’ second home run and Maldonado’s jack.

José Urquidy, Houston’s starter, didn’t last long either in his return from a shoulder injury. The righty tallied 3.1 innings, three hits, five earned runs, three walks, one strikeout and 62 pitches.

With the Astros series ending on a sour note, the Yankees packed their bags for Chicago, where they begin a three-game set with the White Sox on Monday.

Gerrit Cole will start the opener, which is good news for the Yankees. They are 9-0 when their ace pitches after a loss this season, and Cole has a 2.19 ERA in those starts.

Dylan Cease will pitch for the Sox on Monday, while Clarke Schmidt will face Touki Toussaint on Tuesday. The White Sox will throw Mike Clevinger on Wednesday, which lines up with Luis Severino’s next scheduled start. However, on Sunday, Boone did not commit to the struggling Severino making his next start.

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