The Yankees pulled off the improbable, while still facing the impossible.
They jumped on Justin Verlander, scoring four runs in the first inning, the most he's allowed in any playoff inning since joining the Houston Astros in 2017. They got enough clutch pitching from James Paxton, and their (finally) robust bullpen closed the lid on a tidy 4-1 win in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. This now forces the series back down to Texas, where the Yankees have to win two more games and also beat the pitching iteration of Thanos, if they want to sneak into the World Series.
Not only did the Bronx Bombers slip by Verlander, who can count on a fistful of Cy Young votes every autumn, they were part of a unique night in a sport that has been around for 150 years and has seen just about everything. There have been 1,609 playoff games in our pastime, yet this was the first one in which both teams scored in the first inning and then neither scored again.
It speaks to the toughness of Verlander, who pitches with more power and patience in the fifth than he does in the first. It was a small vindication for Paxton, who allowed six baserunners in barely two innings in Game 2 and was pulled before the third. And the night finally unveiled the Yankees' allegedly nuclear bullpen. While it was thought that starting pitching would be an issue with the Yanks — and it has — the bullpen has burped enough runs to rip the pride from their pinstripes.
Plus the Bombers finally broke through with runners in scoring position. Despite leading MLB with a .294 batting average with RISP during the regular season, their clutch lumber had wilted against Houston's high heat, particularly in Game 4, when the Yanks went 0-for-7 with men on second or third base.
After splitting the first two games in Houston, beating Zack Greinke in Game 1 then losing in extra innings when Verlander started Game 2, most of us thought the Yanks had Houston in the perfect spot, believing the Astros would be weakened while traveling into the cold dusk of the Big Apple, where the Yankees have vanquished so many foes. Yet the ever-resourceful Astros schooled the Bombers, in the Bronx, in the basics of base running, fielding and bullpen use. Houston also got big hits from their stars — namely Jose Altuve, George Springer and Alex Bregman — when they needed them most.
Instead of folding under the weight and odds of a 3-1 series deficit, the Yanks finally flexed the muscle that led them to 103 wins and made them a bona fide contender for the Fall Classic. It was the first time since Game 1 that the Yanks were clutch and in control. It was a perfect microcosm of the quirky nature of baseball. They handle Greinke in Game 1, then are tamed by him in Game 4. They can't score more than two runs off Verlander in Game 2, then Aaron Hicks bashes a three-run homer in the first frame of Game 5.
It was a fun way to finish their final home game of 2019. Unless they actually plan to play in the World Series, which requires them to slay all kinds of ghosts and golems before they even consider the Washington Nationals.
Now the Yankees must somehow win two games, on the road, against a team that went 60-21 at home. And one of those wins must come in Game 7 against Gerrit Cole, who has morphed into a monster. Cole hasn't lost a single start since May 22 and is 3-0 in this postseason with a 0.40 ERA. Even when he pitched sans his best stuff in Game 3, he still shut out the Bombers, at Yankee Stadium, over seven innings, against the most marble-hard lineup in the world.
The Yankees have this impossible task because they dug themselves such a daunting hole, losing the first two games at home against a club they wanted to face. Houston has doubled as playoff death for the Yankees, bouncing them from the playoffs three times since 2015. So as we march deeper into October, toward Halloween, it's fitting that the Yankees have to get around Cole, the Grim Reaper, in order to slide safely into the World Series.
But first they must win Game 6.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel.
