The Yankee Stadium crowd wasn’t quite as large, loud or angry as it was Tuesday night, but the results were just as good on Wednesday, as the Yankees won their fifth straight game by beating the Astros, 6-3.
On Wednesday, the struggling Aaron Hicks provided the key hit in the bottom of the eighth, with his RBI single giving the Yankees the lead in the three-run inning before Aroldis Chapman closed it.
And Giancarlo Stanton was right in the middle of it all once again, with three more hits — including a homer — and four RBIs.
“He’s a game-changer,’’ Jordan Montgomery said of Stanton. “It’s good to see him swinging the bat the way he expects to. We’ve all been waiting to see him. He’s on a tear right now. Definitely a force to be reckoned with.”
Astros manager Dusty Baker echoed that sentiment.
“Stanton’s a very dangerous man,’’ Baker said. “You can’t make any mistakes to him. Right now, he’s hitting every mistake.”
The same could be said of the Yankees for the better part of a week, as they’re still shaking off a desultory start to the year.
Since falling into last place in the AL East on April 26, the Yankees have won seven of eight.
This series against the Astros was considered a real test, and the Yankees have looked like many envisioned they would prior to the season.
“It’s been a much better brand of baseball,” manager Aaron Boone said. “The way we’re capable of [playing].”
The latest victory sent the announced crowd of 9,895 home happy after they spent the better part of the night yelling at the Astros — and Jose Altuve in particular.
The chants weren’t as boisterous or as constant as they were on Tuesday in the first game of the series, but they were hardly mild.
And for a second straight night, the Yankees went ahead late in the game, this time in the eighth.
Gleyber Torres started the rally with a leadoff single against left-hander Brooks Raley.
Clint Frazier, pinch-hitting for Mike Ford, fell behind 0-2 before working a walk. Frazier was replaced at first by Tyler Wade. Hicks, batting from his more effective right side, served a single into right to score Torres and put the Yankees ahead.
Raley was replaced by Joe Smith, who hit Gary Sanchez. Brett Gardner’s sacrifice fly provided an insurance run. And a Stanton single drove in another run.
The Yankees got a solid start from Montgomery.
Altuve hit a sharp single through the left side of the infield on the first pitch of the game against the left-hander, who’s had first-inning issues this season.
But Montgomery got Michael Brantley to hit into a double play and Alex Bregman to fly out to retire the side in order on eight pitches.
Montgomery got out of trouble with a double play in the third.
Stanton got the Yankees going in the bottom of the inning. DJ LeMahieu was hit in his left arm with a 91 mph pitch up and in by Houston starter Luis Garcia with two out in the third.
Stanton made Garcia pay, hitting his eighth homer of the season. It landed in the left-field bleachers to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead and extended Stanton’s hitting streak to 11 games.
Montgomery, though, allowed three runs in the fourth before Stanton tied it in the fifth.
After a 1-2 pitch that should have been a called third strike for the final out was ruled a ball, Stanton ripped a run-scoring double to left to even the score at 3-3.
Montgomery retired the final seven batters he faced after Diaz’s double before giving way to Luis Cessa.
Cessa, Wandy Peralta, Jonathan Loaisiga and Chapman combined for three more shutout innings.
And though the fans continue to revel in attacking Astros’ players for the 2017 sign-stealing scandal, Boone said his players are firmly in the present.
“We’re in the here and now,’’ the manager said. “This is 2021. We’ve got to rack up wins. That’s our focus.”
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