HOUSTON — Coming into Wednesday, the Yankees had won eight straight games at the stadium formerly known as Minute Maid Park.
But no amount of regular-season success can quite erase the October heartbreak the Yankees have experienced here over the past decade.
And they took a page out of that playbook on Wednesday, despite it still only being September, in a late bullpen meltdown.
Devin Williams entered a tie game in the bottom of the eighth and lit fire to it, walking in the go-ahead run before Camilo Doval relieved him and poured gasoline on what became an 8-7 loss to the Astros at Daikin Park.
Williams, who was upset with the strike zone changing his outing, left in a 5-4 game before Doval allowed all three inherited runners to score — one each on a balk and a wild pitch — which proved to be brutal when Cody Bellinger swatted a three-run homer in the top of the ninth to pull the Yankees within a run.
But their late comeback attempt ended when Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out looking at a pitch that was outside, which only caused more frustration on a night full of it for the Yankees.
“It’s just ridiculous to have the inning that I had and then Jazz got the bat taken out of his hands on a pitch that was a lot further from the zone than pitches I was making,” Williams said.
Both Williams and Aaron Boone got ejected by home plate umpire Brian Walsh in the ugly bottom of the eighth as they walked off the mound. Williams told Walsh he missed four pitches — two each to Jesús Sánchez and Taylor Trammell, who accounted for two of the three walks he gave up. The one to Trammell forced in the go-ahead run with two outs and the bases loaded.
“We fought all game, had the lead, fought back,” said Will Warren, who gave up a pair of runs across five-plus innings. “Then there in the last inning, just felt like it was gifted to them. It sucks.”
Losing a game they once led 4-1 in the sixth inning, the Yankees dropped to 3 ¹/₂ games back of the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East while remaining in a virtual tie with the Red Sox for the top AL wild card.
After Fernando Cruz and Luke Weaver had each given up a run in the sixth and seventh inning, respectively, to erase a 4-2 lead, Boone called on Williams for the eighth.
Carlos Correa, who had struck out in each of his first three at-bats, led off by lining a double into the right field corner. Williams followed by walking Sánchez before striking out Yainer Diaz in a nine-pitch battle. Williams then walked Christian Walker on a full count to load the bases, but again came back to strike out Ramón Urías, only to walk Trammell, the No. 9 hitter, on five pitches to put the Astros up 5-4.
“When you’re making good pitches, which I was, not getting those calls really changes the course of an at-bat,” Williams said. “Obviously Correa hit the double, so I kind of had my back against the call right away, made some really good pitches to Sánchez, which [Walsh] missed two in that at-bat. But yeah, I competed, but I don’t know.”
Boone said Williams, who has been on the mound for a number of gut-punch losses this season and now owns a 5.60 ERA, was “throwing the ball well” and had a “lot of close pitches.”
Staked to a 4-1 lead on home runs by Giancarlo Stanton and Austin Wells and a sacrifice fly from Ryan McMahon, Warren gave up a leadoff homer in the sixth to Jeremy Peña. It ended his night at 67 pitches, with the Astros generating plenty of loud contact against him late.
Cruz came in to face Yordan Alvarez, who on a four-hit night ripped a double over Stanton’s head in left field — “No one’s catching that ball,” Boone said — and later took third on a wild pitch. Jose Altuve then drove him in on a groundout to third base — McMahon was playing back and considered throwing home before getting the sure out at first — to cut the Yankees lead to 4-3.
In the seventh, after giving up a leadoff single, Weaver retired the next two batters before walking Peña, which brought up Alvarez, who smoked a single to left field. The Astros challenged Stanton’s arm and it worked out, as pinch runner Jacob Melton beat the throw to score from second to tie it.
“Credit to them,” Boone said. “They had a lot of really good at-bats against us, we didn’t get a couple calls and it got away.”
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