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.
UP NEXT
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 Texans have a big challenge in store as they look to start the season with a win against the Colts this Sunday. When these two teams met in Week 2 last year, the Colts dominated the Texans, despite losing their QB Anthony Richardson to a concussion after the first quarter.
Keeping Richardson contained on Sunday will go a long way in increasing the Texans' chances of coming home with a win. The Texans defense will have their hands full containing the Colts backs and tight ends in the passing game.
Scoring touchdowns with their wide receivers could prove difficult, as the Texans allowed the second-fewest TDs (10) to the receiver position in 2023.
Limiting running back Jonathan Taylor will also be a top priority. While the Texans had an elite defense against the run last season, they struggled with Taylor in Week 18 as he almost rushed for 200 yards.
Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.
Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.
On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.
The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.
Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.
Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!
And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!