Kevin Kernan, Post:
The Yankees were swept away in three ugly games at Minute Maid Park by the Astros because they played sloppy baseball.
An Astros base runner fell down halfway to home and, because of a poor relay and lack of anticipation, the Yankees were not able to get Tony Kemp out as he scrambled his way back to third base. He eventually scored.
Fly-ball singles simply fell in front of Clint Frazier in left field on two occasions, and after each hit it appeared the pitchers — first Chad Green, then James Paxton — looked perplexed that those balls were not caught.
The Astros stole bases and not only got hits against the shift, they took extra bases with Yankees infielders unable to get back to the open base.
Those were just some of the plays that cost the Yankees. They also didn't pitch well — the bullpen is especially guilty of walking too many hitters. In 45.1 innings, Yankees relievers have given up 43 hits and 21 walks, that's 64 base runners. ...
So for Boone to say, "I believe we are really close to turning the corner" is not really an accurate statement. ...
Boone is a nice guy ... but he should realize it's OK to demand a much higher level of performance, especially on the fundamentals.
The Astros ... exposed many weaknesses, and Yankees players know they have to clean it up. For the Yankees to be successful with this starting staff, they are going to have to do a much better job of catching the baseball. It's really that simple. ...
The scary part is that this team did not take advantage of an easy early schedule, and that is a function of its sloppy play and inability of the monster bullpen to actually be a monster.
George A. King III, Post:
Unlike the first two games at Minute Maid Park, when the Yankees flushed early leads, they led in the first inning Wednesday ... but never again and dropped an 8-6 decision in front of 27,685 who celebrated the Astros sweeping a three-game series. ...
Though the Yankees matched their combined run total from the first two games, it wasn't enough because James Paxton allowed five runs and eight hits ... in four-plus innings. Paxton's replacement, Tommy Kahnle, gave up two runs and four hits in two-thirds of an inning. ...
[Aaron] Judge, who fanned in the first three at-bats against right-hander Collin McHugh's darting slider and walked in the eighth, singled with one out in the ninth off Ryan Pressly, but Luke Voit and Torres fanned to end the game. ... [Judge:] "That's baseball."
And baseball is a game the Yankees didn't play well in the three losses here. Monday night they wasted a strong pitching performance from Masahiro Tanaka and lost, 4-3. Tuesday night they stunk in a 6-3 defeat. Wednesday night they fell behind, battled back and still lost. ...
"Anytime you get swept it's frustrating, but I also feel we are pretty close," Boone said.
Yet close only counts in horseshoes and tee-ball.
Kevin Kernan, Post:
The Yankees will see early how Paxton deals with adversity.Kristie Ackert, Daily News:
The lefty who came over in a trade from the Mariners in a deal that cost highly touted prospect Justus Sheffield was hammered Wednesday night in his first Yankees start against a contending team.
He could not get an out in the fifth inning and left after giving up his second home run to Jose Altuve ... as the Astros topped the Yankees, 8-6, to sweep the three-game series at Minute Maid Park.
It was a house of horrors from start to finish in these three games for the Yankees. ...
Sure, Paxton had two starts against the rebuilding Orioles ... but this was against a team the Yankees plan to battle in October. ...
The Yankees also need a new Altuve Plan. ...
Paxton threw a center-cut 95-mph fastball to Altuve in the first inning and he homered off the first-row railing of the Crawford Boxes in left.
In the fifth, Paxton fired nearly the same pitch, this time a first-pitch 94-mph fastball, and Altuve hit it off the base of the light tower in left. It would have dented the train. ...
Before the game, Yankees scouts were curious and a bit nervous to see how Paxton would do in such a setting, a pinstripe test.
Now they are a bit more nervous. ...
Their depth is being tested and the season is only 12 games old. ...
It's only three starts, but James Paxton really needs to get to work.
James Paxton struggled to get out of the first inning. The lefty gave up a lead, allowed two runs and needed 28 pitches to just get three outs in that first stanza. He began digging a hole that the Yankees bats could not get out of Wednesday night. ...
From what we have seen, this road trip has certainly raised some concerns about how the Yankees will climb out of holes this season. The defense has been sloppy, the bullpen has blown leads and the starting pitching has been less then expected. ...
It was the second straight start that Paxton struggled to put away hitters. The Astros just made him work really hard. They fouled off 26 balls, 14 when he had two strikes against them. ... He wasn't fooling anyone, he got just 13 called strikes and eight swings and misses.
Mark W. Sanchez, Post:
The Yankees are preparing as if the injury plague that has hounded their season is about to get worse.
The Yankees called up catcher Kyle Higashioka on Thursday ... Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
It is unclear what this means for Gary Sanchez, who hasn't caught since Monday with what the Yankees have termed as tightness in his lower legs.
George A. King III, Post:
[Gary] Sanchez said he felt the tightness Monday ... and that it had nothing to do with his getting hit in the groin while behind the plate that night. Sanchez ... watched from the bench at the start of Wednesday evening's action before striking out in the eighth inning with the tying run at third base. ...
Sanchez was on the disabled list twice last year due to groin injuries.
George A. King III, Post (April 10):
There is an awful and constant smell drifting through the hallways in the bowels of Minute Maid Park on a nightly basis. Where it originates isn't clear, but it is powerful enough to singe nose hairs.
Tuesday night that stench could have come off the Yankees' uniforms, because their performance was easily the worst of the very young season.
Mentally and physically, the Yankees were awful and it resulted in a hard-to-look-at 6-3 loss to the Astros ...
Left fielder Clint Frazier failed to make two diving catches on balls he admitted were catchable and led to a pair of Astros runs. Frazier also got in the way of Brett Gardner fielding a single in center field that caused an error. ...
Believing a bunt attempt with runners on first and second and no outs in the third against Gerrit Cole went foul, Gardner stopped running to first. Catcher Robinson Chirinos pounced on the ball and threw to second to start and easy 2-6-3 double play. ...
[Gardner:] "Teams like the Astros, you can't afford to make mistakes. They will hurt you."
Tuesday night they killed the Yankees.
Kristie Ackert, Daily News (April 10):
With mistakes piling up like Yankees players on the injured list Tuesday night, the Bombers bats couldn't dig them out of trouble. The Astros rallied for four runs against the bullpen as they beat the Yankees 6-3 at Minute Maid Park. ...
Two missed diving plays by Clint Frazier in left field, an error and an uncharacteristic lack of hustle on a bunt by Brett Gardner, two passed balls on Austin Romine and Chad Green losing the feel for his fastball all added up to one ugly loss. ...
Right after announcing that Luis Severino would likely be out until July, the Yankees needed a reason to believe in their young pitchers. Jonathan Loáisiga did not exactly give the Yankees any confidence in him filling that spot. Loáisiga could only get through three innings, needing 71 pitches to do so. ... He was optioned to Triple-A after the game.
Kristie Ackert, Daily News (April 9):
It was set up exactly as they had planned it out this winter.
Two times through the lineup for Masahiro Tanaka and then turn it over to the back-end of the Yankees' bullpen. ...
Tanaka turned the ball and a two-run lead over the Astros to [Zack] Britton in the seventh. The lefty closer gave up a two-strike hit to Carlos Correa and everything began to unravel. The Yankees bullpen gave up three runs as the Astros stormed back for a 4-3 win at Minute Maid Park. ...
After getting to Astros ace Justin Verlander early and holding off a dangerous lineup for six innings, the bullpen imploded. ...
Britton could not get out of the inning. He was charged with two runs on two hits and a walk. Ottavino closed out the seventh, but allowed the go-ahead run to score in the eighth on Correa's broken-bat dribbler that softly died in the no-man zone between the mound and first base.
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