Game 124 Preview: Yankees vs. Astros

Jul 30, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; New York Yankees catcher

(29) approaches relief pitcher

(55) during the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Texas beat New York 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Prediction

The Yankee will try to attack Feldman early so that he cannot get into a groove and stake Pineda to an early lead.  Pineda will respond by dominating the Astros hitters but will once again not be able to go deep into the ballgame.  He will leave the game after only five innings and hand the ball over the bullpen.  Unfortunately, for the Yankees the overworked Yankee bullpen will not be able to get the job done.  They will squander the two run lead they inherited from Pineda as the Astros continue to take advantage of Yankee Stadium’s propensity for allowing short home runs.  All is not lost however as the Yankees will tie the game back up on a Chase Headley RBI ground out in the bottom of the eighth.  After a scoreless ninth inning, it’s on to extra innings.

Bonus baseball begins will the Astros loading the bases in the tenth inning as Joe Girardi inexplicitly used up his entire bullpen except for David Huff to get out of the inning unscathed.  The Yankees go down in order in the bottom of the frame.  Huff then comes in to pitch the eleventh as Yankee fans start to wonder if they will see Ichiro pitch tonight.  Huff gives up a leadoff walk but settles down to get the next three Astros hitters to fly out.  In the bottom of the eleven, the Yankees get a leadoff double and walk to start the inning, but follow it up with a strikeout, walk and inning ending double play.

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The first pitch from Huff to start the twelfth is a fastball which Matt Dominguez promptly deposited in the right field seats.  Unnerved Huff walks the next two hitters before getting a double play, leaving a runner on third with two outs.  A wild pitch scores the second run of the inning before a strikeout ultimately ends the inning.  In their half of the twelfth, the Yankees manage to get Brett Gardner to third base with just one out but once again fail with runners in scoring position as the Astros hold on for the extra inning win, 5-3.

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