James Paxton's night was cut short during Game 2 of the AL Championship Series.
Paxton, who totaled 15 wins in the regular season, was removed from the game after 2 1/3 innings against the Astros on Sunday night. The short-lived performance isn't anything close to the norm for Paxton of late after striking out eight batters in his last postseason outing — ALDS Game 1 vs. Minnesota.
"Just felt like (Paxton) was all right but a little off with his command," Yankees manager Aaron Boone told the Fox broadcast during the middle of the game.
Paxton surrendered four hits through his brief appearance. After forcing the Astros to end the first inning on a double play, Paxton struggled to survive the second inning. Astros' infielder Carlos Correa capitalized on the 2-0 count and opened the scoring, plating Alex Bregman.
The start the @Astros needed. #ALCS pic.twitter.com/wXte9YgQiR
— MLB (@MLB) October 14, 2019As Paxton allowed the first two batters he faced in the following inning to reach base, Boone removed his starter from the game. The 30-year-old totaled 51 pitches in his second career postseason appearance.
Boone opted for the right-handed Chad Green to replace Paxton, saying, "We felt like Greeny was the guy we wanted in there." The reliever managed to escape the inning with no added damage — Bregman flew out to left field, while Yordan Alvarez popped out to Didi Gregorius to end the third inning.
Green was dominant in his stint. He struck out two of the six batters he'd face, preventing the high-powered Astros offense to record a hit.
The Yankees made the most of Paxton's early departure. Green maintained the one-run deficit and allowed Yankees' slugger Aaron Judge to overtake the lead with his two-run home run in the fourth inninng.
