Because the Yankees took two out of three from the lowly Astros they don’t have to spend today’s off day answering questions about how they could have been on the other end of that embarrassing deal.
Yet, anybody who witnessed the three games against the worst team in baseball can’t be confident about the varsity segment of the schedule coming this weekend when the A’s visit Yankee Stadium.
“You are going to have to win some ugly ones,’’ Lyle Overbay said after the Yankees turned back the Astros, 5-4, in front of an announced crowd of 34,117 at the Stadium. “We had opportunities and didn’t come through.’’
The Yankees’ sixth win in seven games sent the Yankees into today’s day of rest with a 17-10 record, and considering whom they are missing — Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Francisco Cervelli, Kevin Youkilis and Ivan Nova — being seven games above .500 is certainly acceptable.
Nevertheless, had it not been for Overbay’s smart baserunning and the Astros’ Brandon Barnes running in the ninth the Yankees could have easily dropped two of three.
Tied, 4-4, in the sixth after starter David Phelps gave up a 4-0 lead in the fourth, Eduardo Nunez opened with a double and Overbay walked. During Overbay’s at-bat, Nunez went to third on a wild pitch.
Paul Clemens caught Chris Stewart looking at a 0-2 pitch for the first out and Ichiro Suzuki followed with a ground ball to second baseman Jose Altuve.
“With a runner on third you tell yourself not to run into the tag,’’ said Overbay, who stopped steps away from first which forced Altuve to make a quick decision. “[First base coach] Mick [Kelleher] mentioned that he was playing a little deep. I didn’t think they would double up Ich if they threw to second. It was kind of a no-brainer.’’
Altuve threw to first as Overbay ran toward second. He was tagged out after Nunez touched home plate.
Because of Boone Logan, David Robertson and Mariano Rivera, the one-run lead was enough. Robertson limped off the mound after the eighth and said he “tweaked” the left hamstring.
Yet, Rivera’s 11th save in 11 chances didn’t come without anxiety.
Barnes greeted Rivera with a sharp single to right and was running when Matt Dominguez hit a soft liner toward center field. But because Robinson Cano was moving toward second with Barnes on the move he was able to jump and rob Dominguez of a single that would have put runners on the corners with no outs. Instead, Cano tagged Barnes and the bases were empty with two outs and Rivera fanned Marwin Gonzalez to seal the victory.
Presented with a chance to show the Yankees’ brass he deserves a spot in the rotation with Nova on the disabled list, Phelps provided four effective innings and a nightmarish fourth when he gave up four runs and hurt himself by hitting back-to-back batters.
“For the first three innings I felt I had the best control I had all year,’’ said Phelps, who gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings in his first start of the season. “And I kind of lost it. I was pretty upset. I could have gotten out of the inning.’’
The Yankees scored a run in the first and second and watched Cano and Ben Francisco homer off Erik Bedard in the fourth but went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
Again, 17-10 without some of the biggest stars in baseball is nothing to ignore. And Granderson and Teixeira took small steps yesterday toward getting back.
Still, the three games against the Astros left something to be desired because the Astros are so bad.