ALCS GAME 3

Astros-Yankees: HRs lead New York to 8-1 win; Astros lead series 2-1

Astros-Yankees: HRs lead New York to 8-1 win; Astros lead series 2-1
Aaron Judge (99) celebrates with Chase Headley after his three-run homer. Abbie Parr/Getty Images

The Yankees' bats came to life on Monday night, including big home runs from Todd Frazier and Aaron Judge, and the team also got a great start from C.C. Sabathia to get a win in Game 3 of the ALCS.

The Yankees benefited from big hits and strong pitching to get their first win of the series in a dominating 8-1 win over the Astros in Game 3. Judge and Frazier both hit three-run homers while Sabathia pitched six innings while only allowing three hits to the Astros.

The Astros still lead the series two games to one.

The top of the first inning got underway with George Springer swinging on the first pitch, which resulted in a groundout. Alex Bregman followed and despite an extended at-bat went down swinging, followed by Jose Altuve who also struck out, making it a 1-2-3 inning for Sabathia. Didi Gregorius put down a two-out bunt against Charlie Morton for a single but was caught leaning at first base to end the inning.

Evan Gattis drew a two-out walk in the top of the second but was left stranded as Sabathia was able to strike out Marwin Gonzalez to end the half inning. Starlin Castro reached on a two-out infield single in the bottom of the inning, followed by a bloop single by Aaron Hicks to center. Frazier capitalized on the situation, hitting an opposite-field homer to right field to give the Yankees the early 3-0 lead, their first lead of the series before Morton was able to get out of the inning.

Springer drew a two-out walk in the top of the third and moved to third on a single by Bregman, followed by a walk by Altuve to load the bases. Sabathia was able to strand all three, though, getting Carlos Correa to pop out to end the threat. Altuve made a fantastic diving stop on a ground ball by Gregorius and threw it over to first which was originally ruled not in time, but after a review was reversed for the second out of the inning. Morton got a groundout by Gary Sanchez to send the game to the fourth still 3-0 in the Yankees favor.

In the top of the fourth, Yuli Gurriel hit a ball to right field that carried nearly to the seats but was hauled in by Judge as he crashed into the wall. The Astros grounded and flew out to get Sabathia through the half inning on just seven pitches. Greg Bird led off the bottom of the inning with a ground rule double down the left field line, then moved to third on a fly out by Hicks. Frazier walked, putting runners on first and third with two-outs, followed by a single from Chase Headley to put the Yankees up 4-0. Morton hit Brett Gardner with a pitch to load the bases, prompting A.J. Hinch to go to Will Harris in the bullpen to face Judge. Frazier came across on a wild pitch, making it 5-0 Yankees before Judge hit his second postseason home run to give the Yankees a commanding 8-0 lead before Harris was able to finally get the last out of the inning.

The Astros stranded two more runners in the top of the fifth after a leadoff walk by Josh Reddick and single by George Springer. Collin McHugh came in in relief in the bottom of the inning and was able to get the first 1-2-3 inning of the night for Astros pitching.

Correa led off the sixth with an infield single, then advanced to third on a throwing error by Gregorious allowing Gonzalez to reach first with two outs. They became the seventh and eighth Astros stranded on base, however, as Reddick grounded out to end the top of the inning. McHugh was able to record another scoreless inning in the bottom half, leaving the score 8-0.

With CC Sabathia's excellent night done, Adam Warren took over for the Yankees to start the seventh and was able to work around a leadoff walk to Cameron Maybin to get through the inning. McHugh returned for his third inning of work and put the Yankees down in order.

Adam Warren remained on the mound for the top of the eighth and despite a couple of loud outs to deep center field was able to get the Yankees three outs away from their first win of the series. Collin McHugh, despite issuing a walk, had another hitless inning in the bottom half, making it four straight for him on the night.

Dellin Betances came in to pitch the ninth for the Yankees, but after back-to-back walks was pulled in favor of Tommy Kahnle. Maybin singled to load the bases, then the Astros got their first run of the night on a walk to Bregman. Kahnle was able to end the threat by getting Altuve to ground into a double play to end the game and seal the 8-1 win for the Yankees.

Game 4: First pitch of Game 4 will be a little earlier tomorrow, scheduled for 4:08 PM Central and can be seen on FS1. The Yankees will start Sonny Gray who had a record of 10-12 this year with a 3.55 ERA. Gray's first postseason start was not a great one, he was the starter in the 4-0 loss in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Indians where he went just three and one-third innings and gave up three runs and four walks. The starter for the Astros has not yet been announced but will likely be either Brad Peacock or Lance McCullers.

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The Colts host this Texans this Sunday. Composite Getty Image.

C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson found themselves in the same spot when they met in Week 2 last season.

Both quarterbacks were top-five draft picks, lost their season openers and seemed to be facing a steep learning curve.

Richardson won Round 1 in Houston, although he didn't finish the game.

Stroud took Round 2 in Indianapolis with the injured Richardson watching from the sideline as Texans clinched the AFC South title and Stroud locked up his runaway selection as NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

On Sunday, each QB begins his second pro season — with a lot still to prove.

“I’m excited. First official game back with my guys and my teammates,” said Richardson, who had season-ending shoulder surgery last October. "I want to win. So, whatever I’ve got to do to do that, I’m going to do it.”

Winning a season opener certainly would be a welcome change for a franchise that last started 1-0 in 2013. The 10-game winless streak is easily the NFL's longest active streak.

But that's just a start for Richardson.

He needs to improve his accuracy after completing a pedestrian 59.5% of his throws in 2023 and must demonstrate he can finish games. He missed 13 last season and only finished one of his four starts because of an assortment of injuries, including the concussion that knocked him out of that Week 2 matchup at Houston after he ran for two scores.

Stroud, meanwhile, is coming off one of the most successful rookie seasons in NFL history.

He became just the third player in a half-century to lead the league in yards passing per game (273.9) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (4.6 to 1), won a playoff game and made hist first Pro Bowl appearance.

How can he improve on a season like that? By showing last season was a building block — not a fluke. He has a stronger supporting cast, too, with Joe Mixon, a four-time 1,000-yard rusher, and Stefon Diggs, who has four straight 100-catch seasons, now in the mix.

The long journey begins Sunday in Indianapolis.

“I want to just start fast,” Stroud said. “It doesn't have to do with a certain game, just in general this season. Last year, we started off really slow and just kind of had to build our way back. It's not an easy thing to do, so I would say this year we want to start fast.”

Nico vs. Colts

Houston receiver Nico Collins had two of his biggest games last season against Indy — catching seven passes for 146 yards and one TD in the Week 2 matchup only to outperform those numbers with a 195-yard day that included a 75-yard TD catch in Week 18.

He could play an even bigger role this time with Indy's young secondary trying to match up not only with Collins but also Diggs, Mixon and tight end Dalton Schultz.

“Nico is a playmaker,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Every time I see him, he’s a true playmaker. So, you just have to get Nico the ball in any way, shape or fashion. Just find a way to get him the ball just to see how explosive and how dynamic he is.”

Taylor made

Injuries and a contract dispute prevented Jonathan Taylor from replicating the form he used to win the 2021 NFL rushing title. Starting against the Texans could be just what he needs.

In six games against Houston, Taylor has rushed for seven TDs and 135.2 yards per game — his highest average against any team he's faced multiple times. And in that rematch with Houston in Week 18, he finished with 30 carries for 188 yards, the NFL's highest single-game total all season.

Confident Anderson

Houston defensive end Will Anderson, last season’s AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, will play Sunday after recovering from an ankle injury that limited his training camp snaps.

The No. 3 overall pick in 2023 had 45 tackles, 10 for loss, and 7 1/2 sacks as a rookie. He expects to be even better this season.

“I’m way more comfortable,” he said. “Just going into Year 2 knowing the scheme better, knowing what to expect a little bit more and knowing what’s going to happen gives you more confidence.”

Pass rush

The Colts lost their 2023 sacks leader, Samson Ebukam, with a torn Achilles tendon during training. But they may have the perfect replacement.

Laiatu Latu was the first defensive player taken in April's draft, at No. 15 overall, and he's shown coaches that the moves he used to record 23 1/2 sacks over his last two college seasons can work in the NFL.

“We know that there’s going to be a learning curve there," defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. "We know there are going to be plays that we’re going to come in and say there were some good plays, and there were plays he wishes he had back — we understand that. But just his overall mentality and skill set, we’re very excited to see.”

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