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Ryan McMahon, Trent Grisham drive in three runs apiece in Yankees' 8-4 win over Astros

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Ryan McMahon, Trent Grisham drive in three runs apiece in Yankees' 8-4 win over Astros

The Yankees didn't allow frustrations from Wednesday's meltdown to fester, as they outlasted the rival Astros, 8-4, on a chaotic Thursday night at Daikin Park.

Here are the takeaways…

— Astros starter Christian Javier entered Friday with a stellar 1.99 ERA in six career appearances against the Yankees, but it didn't take long for that mark to rise a tad. With two on and two outs in the second inning, Ryan McMahon drew first blood with an RBI single to shallow right that gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead. The two-out rally began with a walk to Austin Wells and a single from Anthony Volpe. Solid production by the bottom-third of the lineup.

— Carlos Rodón kept batted balls in the park last month, allowing just one home run across six August outings (34.1 innings). But his streak of five starts without a long ball was snapped by Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez, who smacked a game-tying solo shot to right-center in the third. Injury was then added to insult moments later, when Jazz Chisholm Jr.appeared to hurt his left knee after tagging out a sliding Jose Altuve at second base. Chisholm hobbled off the field and completed his fourth-inning at-bat (a strikeout), but Jose Caballero entered shortly thereafter as his defensive replacement. The Yankees announced that Chisholm exited with knee contusions.

— McMahon's second battle with Javier was more impressive than his first. With the score still knotted in the fifth, the Yankees' third baseman jumped on a first-pitch curveball that landed over the left-center field wall for a go-ahead solo blast. Javier then fell into further trouble, loading the bases on singles to Trent Grisham and Ben Rice and a walk to Aaron Judge, and from there, Cody Bellinger increased the lead to 3-1 with a one-out RBI single to right. Javier's night ended on that note — it was naturally his shortest start against the Yankees thus far.

— The Astros turned to Enyel De Los Santos to clean up Javier's mess, and he didn't improve the situation. He was issued a pitch clock violation before even throwing to Giancarlo Stanton, and while he ultimately won that at-bat via strikeout, his full-count bout with Caballero was lost due to yet another clock violation. The mental error resulted in a costly walk and pushed the Astros' deficit to three. The Yankees sent all nine batters to the plate in the fifth inning.

— The groove Rodón settled into was disrupted by some chaos in the sixth. After allowing a leadoff double to Alvarez, a line drive from Altuve that was clearly caught by McMahon at third was ruled a drop and error by umpire Brian Walsh. The Yankees argued that his bobble occurred on the transfer, and while TV replays showed this to be the case, there was no official review and umpires stunningly upheld the ruling. Rodón overcame the mess by inducing a routine double-play grounder, but a poor scoop attempt from Rice at first allowed Alvarez to score and cut the Yankees' lead to 4-2.

— Rodón recovered from Rice's error after a mound visit, striking out Christian Walker and inducing a flyout of Yainer Diaz. It wasn't a pretty effort from the veteran southpaw, but he still delivered six quality innings that the Yankees sorely needed. Overall, Rodón gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks with three strikeouts. He also threw 109 pitches, tying his season high. His season ERA now sits at 3.12.

— Luke Weaver took over in the seventh, but he failed to complete the inning. He served up a pinch-hit leadoff homer to Jesús Sánchez that trimmed the Yankees' lead to 4-3, and despite logging a pair of strikeouts, he proceeded to allow back-to-back singles that forced Aaron Boone to pull the plug. The jam was then handed to Fernando Cruz, who survived a full-count fight against Altuve by striking him out.

— Any tension the Yankees felt after the seventh waned during the eighth. With two on and two out, McMahon once again came up clutch with an RBI single up the middle that deflected off the shortstop's glove and trickled into right field. Then, two pitches later, Grisham gave the Yankees an even greater sigh of relief by crushing a three-run blast down the line in right to extend their lead to a more comfortable 8-3. Grisham became the seventh center fielder in Yankees history to produce a 30-homer season — suffice to say, nobody could've predicted him achieving this feat.

— Cruz returned to the mound for the eighth, and while the inning began with a single to Correa, the veteran right-hander needed only 11 pitches to retire Walker (strikeouts), Diaz (strikeout), and Sanchez (flyout) and eliminate any chance of a rally. The ninth inning belonged to David Bednar, in a non-save situation, and once again, disorder only baseball can create arrived. After a double from Taylor Trammell that set the Astros up with two runners in scoring position with no outs, the Yankees questioned whether Trammell's bat met league rules. The umpires looked at the bat, which had a patch of white/tan on the barrel, but it wasn't deemed illegal. Perhaps black paint had chipped off. A league official seized the bat for review.

— The pair of early hits and the confusing delay hampered Bednar, who proceeded to give up an RBI single to Alvarez and a walk to Altuve. But the bases-loaded jam with the tying run at the plate didn't escalate — the veteran righty regrouped and induced two clutch strikeouts of Correa and Walker to seal a much-needed rubber game victory.

Game MVP: Ryan McMahon

McMahon's first three-hit game as a Yankee couldn't have come at a better time. He set the tone and finished 3-for-4 with a homer, two singles, and two runs scored. But credit goes to Grisham, who reached a career milestone with his valuable three-run blast.

Highlights

What's next

The Yankees (78-62) will fly back home and begin a critical three-game weekend series with the division-rival Blue Jays on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

RHP Cam Schlittler (2-2, 2.61 ERA) is slated to take the mound, opposite RHP Kevin Gausman (8-10, 3.75). New York currently trails Toronto by three games for first place in the AL East.



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