John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

Yankees unable to complete the sweep against Astros in 4-3 loss

Originally posted on Empire Sports Media | By Ryan Garcia | Last updated 5/9/24

After two blowout wins against the Houston Astros, the New York Yankees would be on the other end of a tough loss. Marcus Stroman, who had been steadily losing some of his command in recent outings, would grapple with that same issue again, as he couldn’t reliably put hitters away, and Ronel Blanco was solid. The right-hander had been the best pitcher for the Astros all season, and he lived up to that once again in his first career start against the Bronx Bombers.

While the Yankees will still walk away with a series win against the Astros in this three-game set, they’ll drop the series finale here in the Bronx.

Marcus Stroman Struggles, Yankees Offense Shut Down in Loss

This game would get off to a bad start for Marcus Stroman, who got two quick outs before Yordan Alvarez opened the scoring with a solo blast. After walking Jeremy Pena, Jon Singleton would hit one of the longest home runs I’ve ever seen at Yankee Stadium. Nearly reaching the upper deck, this first inning would be the difference in this ballgame, with the Yankees falling by just one run.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Yankees had a chance to answer back, but a strikeout from Aaron Judge and a double play from Alex Verdugo squashed their early rally. Anthony Volpe would get the Yankees on the board with a two-run blast the other way, his fifth homer of the season, as the second-year shortstop has played much better as of late after struggling for a couple of weeks at the top of the order.

Marcus Stroman didn’t have his command, as while he kept the Yankees in the game and settled down after the first inning, he’d cough up his fourth and final run of the day in the sixth inning. It wasn’t the disaster it could have been, but the recent struggles he’s had have certainly compounded into a rough stretch for the veteran right-hander. On the offensive side of things, the Yankees were able to get the game within one thanks to Aaron Judge.

He launched a 473-foot blast off of Ryan Pressley, but the Yankees would be unable to get another run across in the ninth inning and the Astros would get the four-out save from Josh Hader they desperately needed. The Yankees’ five-game winning streak comes to an end, but they’ll get a chance to get the ball rolling again tomorrow against the Rays as Clarke Schmidt takes the bump against Taj Bradley at 6:50 PM EST in Florida.

This article first appeared on Empire Sports Media and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: