HOUSTON — The Yankees are developing an early formula for success: Fall behind early, get to the Astros’ bullpen and then let Oswaldo Cabrera and Juan Soto work their magic.
The two-man wrecking crew of Cabrera and Soto — only one half of which was expected to be making this kind of daily impact – did it again on Saturday night, sparking the Yankees to a third straight comeback win to open the season.
Cabrera delivered his second game-tying home run in three days, this one a two-run shot off Astros reliever Bryan Abreu in the seventh inning, before Soto took Abreu deep to the opposite field for a go-ahead blast, lifting the Yankees to a 5-3 win at Minute Maid Park.
Anthony Volpe added his first home run of the year in the eighth inning off reliever Ryan Pressly to pad the Yankees’ lead and help secure the series win ahead of Sunday’s finale.
Of the 17 runs the Yankees have scored in the first three games of this series, 13 have come against the Astros’ bullpen.
The late offensive explosion took Marcus Stroman off the hook after a strong Yankees debut in which his defense (including his own) let him down.
The Yankees committed three errors, one of which was Stroman’s, leading to all three of the runs scored against the right-hander across six innings being unearned.
Still, Stroman finished in style, with his 101st and final pitch of the night striking out Jeremy Peña to strand Alex Bregman at third base and keep the Yankees within striking distance with a 3-1 deficit.
The seventh-inning rally again started with a patient at-bat, this one from Austin Wells.
The rookie catcher fell behind Abreu 0-2 before taking four straight balls to draw a walk.
Cabrera came up next and, on a 1-2 pitch, drilled a 97 mph inside fastball into the right-field seats, just out of the reach of Kyle Tucker at the wall.
Three batters later, Soto laced a rising line drive into the Crawford Boxes in left field for his first home run as a Yankee and the 4-3 lead.
Then the Yankees bullpen — two innings from Ian Hamilton and one from Clay Holmes — slammed the door shut, continuing their strong start to the season with 11 2/3 shutout innings.
