He finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
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“I’ve been doing everything I can and trying not to get frustrated”, he said.
Following the first inning home run, Sabathia pitched fairly solidly. Nomar Mazara singled with one out in the ninth. Bregman is an adequate shortstop, but he has also seen time recently at third and in the outfield.
“You’re not asking a young kid to maybe step into something that he’s never done before”, manager Joe Girardi said. “He was really good tonight”, Headley said. 333 for the Fresno Grizzlies in Triple A after being drafted second overall in the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft.
Sabathia allowed two runs over 6.2 innings, his only mistakes coming on solo home runs by Marwin Gonzalez and Evan Gattis.
“I didn’t execute today”, Fister said. “Basically, I let my team down”.
The Yankees are playing their best ball of the season and all of a sudden find themselves in the middle of a wild card race. The Yankees have scored 13 runs in their last three games and five or more runs in four of their last eight games. I would take a chance and play him right away.
On a 1-1 pitch, Bregman lifted a fly ball out to right field that sent Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks towards the wall. Betances struck out the side in the eighth while Miller recorded his eighth save by inducing Carlos Gomez to hit into a game-ending double play.
With 2 outs in the top of the 5th, Didi Gregorius hit a double, and Chase Headley singled him home to tie the score.
The Cubs trailed 4-2 before Dexter Fowler and Anthony Rizzo each hit an RBI single in the ninth.
Sabathia is 1-1 with a 4.80 ERA in two career starts against Houston. These two teams met in the first series of the year in the Bronx, with the Yankees winning two out of three games.
From the very first inning Bregman put on a defensive display at third base, as he fielded a hard chopper from outfielder Carlos Beltran to end the inning. Trainers looked at him for a minute before he was helped to his feet and limped off the field. He lamented a baseball career that was cut short while watching batting practice.
It’s been a long trip to the majors for Bregman, who was projected to be a high first round pick during his senior year of high school.
In the third inning, the Yankees added to their lead.
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In the bullpen, the Astros have the best ‘pen ERA in the AL (3.06) and they have the third most strikeouts (Yankees are first).
