Yankees continue to flip the script on struggling Houston Astros

NEW YORK – “Mattress Mack,” the Houston businessman famous for placing, and sometimes winning, monstrous bets on the Astros has the potential to break the bank this October.

A sportsbook has Mack’s favorite baseball team at 20-1 to win the 2024 World Series.

That would mean taking a chance on a team that seems miles away from being a contender, with its sensational streak of seven consecutive AL championship appearances in danger of ending.

Those odds could get stronger before the reeling Astros leave the Bronx, and the Yankees’ chances of reversing their fortunes in this rivalry have never looked better.

An early-season trend continued Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, with the Yankees hitting three home runs off the estimable Justin Verlander and cruising to a 10-3 victory.

The Yankees take over Houston

Thanks to another strong outing from starter Luis Gil to open a three-game set, the Yankees (24-13) won all five of their games against the Astros (12-23) this year, starting with an opening sweep of the season in Houston.

Since last September, the Yankees have won eight straight games against Houston, the club that has tormented them for the past decade – including three ALCS meetings going the way of the Astros.

Earlier Tuesday, speaking to MLB Network’s Brian Kenny on MLB Now, Astros general manager Dana Brown said he couldn’t envision a scenario in which he sold at the deadline.

“I think we’re still built to win,” Brown said. “At the end of the day, I think we’re going to get going here and things are going to change.”

The Astros’ rotation has been hit by injuries, and some of those starters — led by Cristian Javier — are expected to return before long.

It might not take a crazy comeback to compete in the AL West, but these Astros are a much less dynamic and fearful group than recent Houston teams, and these Yanks are developing some swagger.

The Yankees club three homers against Justin Verlander

Alex Verdugo admired his first three-run homer against Verlander, erasing a 1-0 deficit and making a dramatic break before retiring his bat.

In a 3-for-27 rut, Anthony Volpe hit a two-run homer to strike out Verlander in the fourth, after two solid at-bats against the future Hall of Famer.

And in the fifth, Giancarlo Stanton hit a unique solo shot – a low line drive that kept rising like a ball hit off a golf tee.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he predicted a Stanton home run to bench coach Brad Ausmus before the pitch.

“I didn’t know it was going to be the two-iron variety, where it looks like a base hit to the left, oops in the bullpen,” Boone said. “She’s a unicorn that way.”

Stanton’s seventh home run of the year, clocked at 118 mph right off the bat, gave the Yanks a 7-1 lead over Verlander, who exited after five innings and 97 pitches.

Luis Gil makes the difference in the Yankees rotation

Gil’s 97-pitch outing was aided by a few quick innings, including a six-pitch fifth inning that ended with a strikeout of Jose Altuve, now batting .336.

But the Astros’ roster isn’t an intimidating bunch these days, with Alex Bregman batting .195 with one homer in 32 games, Yordan Alvarez with a lower OPS (.769) than Verdugo (.812) and Jose who is hitting .099. Abreu is trying to find momentum at the Astros’ player development complex.

Meanwhile, Gil “continues to grow, he’s got a really high ceiling,” said Boone, who saw the right-hander adjust after giving up Kyle Tucker’s solo homer in the first.

It was the only hit allowed in six innings by Gil, who walked four batters and “struggled with his delivery at times,” Boone said.

Gil’s electric fastball was “not where I wanted it,” he said through a translator, forcing him to rely more often on his solid stance changes and secondary throws.

Between innings, Gil (3-1, 2.92 ERA) said injured ace Gerrit Cole provided some guidance on how to get the Astros out.

But the fastball was still very good, which Volpe could tell “just by the hitters’ reactions to his pitches…like the fastball was hitting 110 (mph).” »

Cole, who threw one mound again Tuesday, might not be back in the Yankees rotation until late June, making Gil’s presence even more important.

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