Yankees defeat Astros, 7-1. Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images.
Oswaldo Cabrera had a career-high four hits with three RBIs and Giancarlo Stanton added a solo homer to lead the New York Yankees over the Houston Astros 7-1 on Friday night.
Manager Aaron Boone is thrilled to see Cabrera's strong start after he struggled early this spring.
“He’s delivered,” Boone said. “In these first two games he’s been right in the middle of everything. And it’s so good to see him swinging the bat like this and contributing offensively like this because then he becomes so valuable.”
The victory, in which second baseman Gleyber Torres exited after being on the hand with a pitch, came after New York rallied from a four-run deficit for a 5-4 win in Thursday night’s season opener.
Juan Soto had three hits and put the Yankees ahead when he drew a bases-loaded walk in a two-run seventh.
Cristian Javier limited the Yankees to four hits across six scoreless innings before they broke through in the seventh.
Tayler Scott (0-1) walked Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells with one out in the seventh. Cabrera singled on a grounder to left field to score Volpe and tie it at 1-1.
Scott then hit Torres on the right hand with a 93.1 mph fastball, loading the bases. Torres fell to the ground and writhed in a pain for a couple of minutes before being checked by an athletic trainer and remaining in the game.
He took the field to start the bottom of the seventh but was replaced by Jahmai Jones during a mound visit with one out in the inning.
Boone said X-rays were negative and Torres, who said it hit him on the right thumb, added he's a little sore but hopes to play Saturday.
Rafael Montero took over after Torres was plunked and walked Soto, who led the majors in walks in each of the last three seasons.
New York tacked on four more runs in the eighth thanks in large part to Houston’s sloppy defense.
“We are a really good defensive team and, and we we didn’t play good defense there at the end,” Espada said.
New York had runners on first and second with one out when an error by shortstop Jeremy Peña allowed Anthony Rizzo to score and make it 3-1. Wells' sacrifice was fielded by Parker Mushinski, but the pitcher badly overthrew first base for another error that allowed Wells to reach and another run to score.
Cabrera followed with a two-run single that pushed the lead to 6-1. His big game came after he had two hits, including a solo homer in the opener.
“I'm so happy for it,” he said. “We've been working during spring training to have good at-bats and I feel good for these couple of games.”
Stanton connected off Brandon Bielak with one out in the ninth to send many Houston fans streaming for the exits. Most of the remaining fans were wearing New York gear and soon chants of: ‘let’s go Yankees’ filled the ballpark.
Luke Weaver (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings. New York starter Carlos Rodón allowed five hits and a run with three walks in 4 1/3 innings, and Clayton Beeter, a 25-year-old right-hander, made his major league debut for the Yankees with a one-hit ninth.
Jose Altuve hit a leadoff double and scored when Alex Bregman singled with two outs on a ball to center that a diving Alex Verdugo deflected.
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Right-hander Marcus Stroman makes his Yankees debut against Hunter Brown when the series continues Saturday night. Stroman signed a $37 million, two-year contract to join the Yankees this offseason.
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The Houston Rockets are acquiring 15-time All-Star and four-time Olympic gold medalist Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns in a blockbuster deal struck Sunday, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press.
The Rockets are giving up Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green and six future picks — including the No. 10 selection in Wednesday’s opening round of this year’s draft — according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was still pending NBA approval.
It ends weeks of speculation about where Durant would end up. Many teams were involved at various times, including Miami and Minnesota, but in the end Phoenix took the Rockets’ offer.
ESPN first reported the trade.
Fans learned of the news while Durant was on stage in New York at Fanatics Fest NYC, and when they began reacting, Durant started smiling broadly.
“We're gonna see, man,” Durant said from the stage. “We're gonna see.”
Boardroom, the ever-growing media company that Durant and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, co-founded in 2019 teams up with Fanatics on a number of projects. The panel that Durant was set to appear on there Sunday was called “Global Game Changers.”
He certainly figures to change the game for Houston.
Houston finished No. 2 in the Western Conference in the regular season, albeit 16 games behind No. 1 Oklahoma City. It now adds a two-time champion to its young core as it looks to make another jump next season.
Durant averaged 26.6 points this season, his 17th in the NBA — not counting one year missed because of injury. For his career, the 6-foot-11 forward is averaging 27.2 points and seven rebounds per game.
The move brings Durant back to the state of Texas, where he played his one year of college basketball for the Longhorns and was the college player of the year before going as the No. 2 pick in the 2007 draft by Seattle.
Houston will become his fifth franchise, joining the SuperSonics (who then became the Oklahoma City Thunder), Golden State, Brooklyn and Phoenix. Durant won his two titles with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, and last summer in Paris he became the highest-scoring player in U.S. Olympic basketball history and the first men's player to be part of four gold-medal teams.