The Star-Ledger
The New York Yankees made amends to Monday night’s 9-1 drubbing at the hands of the visiting Houston Astros with a win on Tuesday night.
Still the Yanks are in danger of losing the series tonight against Houston, who is playing a little better baseball than anticipated. New York sends relief pitcher turned starter David Phelps to the mound to try and get rid of the pesky Astros.
Granted, except for a few veteran names on the Yankees’ roster that are known simply because they’ve been around for years, they are as unfamiliar as the ‘Stros.
Houston has the lowest payroll in MLB while the Yankees have… well, you don’t have to be a baseball pundit to know what the Yankees have the highest payroll in MLB.
For Houston, this is one of the mini-World Series that they will have during the course of the season. They have no shot at winning the AL West in their inaugural campaign in that division, so visits to Yankee Stadium will have to suffice for a postseason appearance.
They certainly got off to a good start with that on Monday by defeating Yankee—and former Astro— great Andy Pettitte. But can the Yankees afford to lose another game to the lowly Astros at this point?
New York is no shoe-in for the postseason themselves. Although they are off to a pretty decent start and an unexpected one at that, they are in the AL East where there are few days off.
The Yanks must treat Houston as though they are after their playoff spot. It’s the only way to keep down a team that has nothing to lose.
Kenny Bristow is a Los Angeles Dodgers writer for www.RantSports.com.
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