HOUSTON -- The New York Yankees rebounded from a tough Thursday night with a huge game at the plate to down the best team in baseball on Friday night.
Brett Gardner tied a career-high with six RBI and his seventh-inning grand slam helped the New York Yankees cruise to a 13-4 victory over the first-place Houston Astros.
The Yankees started off slow, and trailed by two entering the sixth inning, after arriving at their hotel in Houston about 6 a.m. following an almost three-hour rain delay before the start of their game against the White Sox on Thursday night. That was an emotional game after rookie Dustin Fowler suffered a knee injury which required surgery in the first inning of his major league debut.
They finally broke through in the sixth inning on Friday, collecting five hits -- all singles -- and sending 10 batters to the plate to take a 6-3 lead.
"We were under tough circumstances with everything last night and getting in early this morning, so it was a big win for us," Gardner said. "Our team played really, really well, and guys were swinging the bat well, getting on base and keeping the line moving."
Gardner, who finished a triple shy of the cycle, drove in the go-ahead run in that inning before connecting off James Hoyt an inning later on his two-out, two-strike shot to right field to make it 10-3.
Manager Joe Girardi was proud of the way his team responded on Friday night.
"With all that we've been through, the injuries that went through the last two weeks and what we all witnessed last night, it was pretty disturbing for all of us," Girardi said. "The way they responded today is what they've done all year."
Yankees starter Michael Pineda (8-4) yielded seven hits and three runs -- two earned -- in six innings for his first win since June 8. Bryan Mitchell allowed two hits and one run in three innings for his first save.
Houston starter Lance McCullers allowed six hits and three runs in 5 1/3 innings in his second start since coming off the disabled list. Michael Feliz (4-2) allowed four hits and three runs in 1/3 inning for the loss.
There was a runner on first with one out in the sixth when Austin Romine drew a walk to chase McCullers. He was replaced by Feliz, who was greeted by an RBI single from Ronald Torreyes, which cut the lead to one. Chris Carter, who was in his first game back since rejoining the team after being designated for assignment a week ago, hit an RBI single with two outs to tie it.
Another single, this one from Gardner, scored Torreyes to put the Yankees on top. Jacoby Ellsbury followed with yet another single to send another run home and push the lead to 5-3. Ellsbury took second and Gardner went to third on the play thanks to an error by outfielder George Springer.
Feliz walked Aaron Judge on a wild pitch which allowed another run to score and leave the Yankees up 6-3.
"They put together some really good at-bats and singled him to death and just found ways to put back-to-back-to-back good at-bats against him and control the game," manager A.J. Hinch said.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: Fowler was expected to leave the hospital on Friday, a day after undergoing surgery for a serious knee injury he suffered crashing into a low wall trying to catch a foul ball on Thursday night. The outfielder ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee.
Astros: RHP Charlie Morton (strained back muscle) will make one more rehabilitation start in the minors before rejoining the team next week in Toronto. Morton has made two starts at Triple-A Fresno and his last rehabilitation start will be at Double-A Corpus Christi on Sunday.
AOKI ON THE MOUND
Veteran Astros OF Nori Aoki made his first career pitching appearance in the ninth inning on Friday night. The 35-year-old allowed one hit with two walks and three runs while throwing mostly in the high 70s.
Hinch didn't love sending Aoki out there, but needed to so he could save his bullpen.
"I'm probably the one guy in the building that didn't get entertainment out of it," he said. "As a manager you hate putting a guy in those positions."
Aoki, who said he pitched regularly in high school, wasn't bothered by it and said it was a "lifelong dream" to pitch in the majors.
He retired the 6-foot-7 Judge on a pop out to end the inning and was shocked by his size at the plate.
"I knew he was big, but he looked even bigger when I was on the mound," he said through an interpreter in Japanese. "I felt like he was 9-feet, 10-feet tall."
UP NEXT
Yankees: Jordan Montgomery (6-4, 3.53 ERA) will start for New York on Saturday. He won his fourth straight decision in his last start by allowing five hits and one run while fanning eight in seven innings of a win over the White Sox.
Astros: Rookie Francis Martes (2-0, 5.51) is scheduled to start for Houston on Saturday. Martes struggled in his last start, allowing two hits and two runs with four walks in two innings of an 8-2 win over Seattle.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball




Final
Series: Game 1 of 3

Yankees 13

(43-35, 19-22 away)

Astros 4

(54-27, 25-18 home)




8:10PM,EDT,June 30,2017
Minute Maid Park, Houston,Texas 

123456789 R H E
NYY 001005403 13 14 2
HOU 100200010 4 9 3
W: M. Pineda (8-4)
L: M. Feliz (4-2)
S: B. Mitchell (1)




View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-PitchInning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
New York - Top of 1stSCORE
Lance McCullers Jr. pitching for HoustonNYYHOU
Gardner grounded out to pitcher.00
Ellsbury grounded out to second.00
Judge walked.00
Gregorius fouled out to third.00
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Houston - Bottom of 1stSCORE
Michael Pineda pitching for New YorkNYYHOU
Springer doubled to left.00
Reddick grounded out to second, Springer to third.00
Altuve hit sacrifice fly to center, Springer scored.01
Correa grounded out to shortstop.01
1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Top of 2ndSCORE
Lance McCullers Jr. pitching for HoustonNYYHOU
Headley grounded out to first.01
Romine struck out swinging.01
Torreyes reached on infield single to pitcher.01
Wade safe at first on error by first baseman Gurriel, Torreyes to second.01
Torreyes safe at third, Wade safe at second on throwing error by pitcher McCullers Jr..01
Carter grounded out to shortstop.01
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 2 Errors
Houston - Bottom of 2ndSCORE
Michael Pineda pitching for New YorkNYYHOU
McCann grounded out to first.01
Beltrán struck out swinging.01
González singled to right.01
Gurriel lined out to shortstop.01
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Top of 3rdSCORE
Lance McCullers Jr. pitching for HoustonNYYHOU
Gardner doubled to right center.01
Ellsbury struck out swinging.01
Judge struck out swinging.01
Gregorius doubled to right, Gardner scored.11
Headley grounded out to third.11
1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Houston - Bottom of 3rdSCORE
Michael Pineda pitching for New YorkNYYHOU
Bregman flied out to right.11
Springer flied out to center.11
Reddick popped out to third.11
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Top of 4thSCORE
Lance McCullers Jr. pitching for HoustonNYYHOU
Romine singled to deep right.11
Torreyes doubled to left, Romine to third.11
Wade struck out swinging.11
Carter struck out swinging.11
Romine out at home on runner's fielder's choice.11
0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Houston - Bottom of 4thSCORE
Michael Pineda pitching for New YorkNYYHOU
Altuve singled to left.11
Correa singled to right center, Altuve to third, Correa to second on throwing error by right fielder Wade.11
McCann struck out swinging.11
Beltrán grounded out to second, Altuve scored, Correa to third.12
González singled to center, Correa scored.13
Gurriel popped out to second.13
2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Errors
New York - Top of 5thSCORE
Lance McCullers Jr. pitching for HoustonNYYHOU
Gardner grounded out to second.13
Ellsbury grounded out to second.13
Judge grounded out to second.13
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Houston - Bottom of 5thSCORE
Michael Pineda pitching for New YorkNYYHOU
Bregman flied out to center.13
Springer singled to left center.13
Reddick flied out to center.13
Altuve singled to right, Springer to second.13
Correa grounded into fielder's choice to second, Altuve out at second.13
0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Top of 6thSCORE
Lance McCullers Jr. pitching for HoustonNYYHOU
Gregorius reached on infield single to shortstop.13
Headley struck out swinging.13
Romine walked, Gregorius to second.13
Feliz relieved McCullers Jr..13
Torreyes singled to shallow left, Gregorius scored, Romine to second.23
Wade struck out looking.23
Carter reached on infield single to shortstop, Romine scored, Torreyes to second.33
Gardner singled to right, Torreyes scored, Carter to second.43
Ellsbury singled to center, Carter scored, Gardner to second, Gardner to third, Ellsbury to second on error by center fielder Springer.53
Ellsbury to third on wild pitch by Feliz.53
Judge walked. Gardner scores, Ellsbury to third on wild pitch.63
Guduan relieved Feliz.63
Gregorius popped out to shortstop.63
5 Runs, 5 Hits, 1 Errors
Houston - Bottom of 6thSCORE
Michael Pineda pitching for New YorkNYYHOU
McCann struck out swinging.63
Beltrán grounded out to third.63
González grounded out to first.63
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Top of 7thSCORE
Reymin Guduan pitching for HoustonNYYHOU
Headley singled to left.63
Romine singled to center, Headley to second.63
Torreyes walked, Headley to third, Romine to second.63
Wade grounded into fielder's choice to first, Headley out at home, Romine to third, Torreyes to second.63
Hoyt relieved Guduan.63
Carter struck out swinging.63
Gardner homered to right (399 feet), Romine, Torreyes and Wade scored.103
Ellsbury struck out swinging.103
4 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors
Houston - Bottom of 7thSCORE
Bryan Mitchell pitching for New YorkNYYHOU
Mitchell relieved Pineda.103
Gurriel flied out to right.103
Bregman struck out swinging.103
Springer grounded out to shortstop.103
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
New York - Top of 8thSCORE
Luke Gregerson pitching for HoustonNYYHOU
Gregerson relieved Hoyt.103
Judge struck out swinging.103
Gregorius grounded out to second.103
Headley walked.103
Romine struck out swinging.103
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Houston - Bottom of 8thSCORE
Bryan Mitchell pitching for New YorkNYYHOU
Reddick doubled to right center, Reddick to third on error by center fielder Ellsbury.103
Altuve grounded out to second, Reddick scored.104
Correa grounded out to first.104
McCann singled to left.104
Beltrán grounded out to third.104
1 Runs, 2 Hits, 1 Errors
New York - Top of 9thSCORE
Norichika Aoki pitching for HoustonNYYHOU
Aoki relieved Gregerson.104
Torreyes walked.104
Wade walked, Torreyes to second.104
Carter doubled to deep left, Torreyes scored, Wade to third.114
Gardner hit sacrifice fly to right, Wade scored, Carter to third.124
Ellsbury grounded out to shortstop, Carter scored.134
Judge flied out to center.134
3 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Houston - Bottom of 9thSCORE
Bryan Mitchell pitching for New YorkNYYHOU
Refsnyder in left field.134
González grounded out to first.134
Gurriel grounded out to shortstop.134
Bregman flied out to center.134
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors




New York Yankees
HittersABRHRBIBBSO#PAVGOBPSLG
Gardner LF53360023.261.338.474
0000000.135.179.216
Ellsbury CF60120218.275.339.412
Judge DH40002228.326.449.689
Gregorius SS51210018.311.332.482
Headley 3B40101119.253.345.369
Romine C42201218.244.291.326
Torreyes 2B33312020.291.321.385
Wade RF42001217.143.250.214
Carter 1B52220221.209.289.390
Totals40131412711182   
BATTING
2B: Gardner (14, McCullers Jr.); Gregorius (11, McCullers Jr.); Torreyes (6, McCullers Jr.); Carter (5, Aoki)
HR: Gardner (15, 7th inning off Hoyt 3 on, 2 Out)
RBI: Gregorius (32), Torreyes (20), Carter 2 (25), Gardner 6 (40), Ellsbury 2 (16)
SF: Gardner
2-out RBI: Gregorius, Carter, Gardner 5, Ellsbury
Yankees RISP: 7-18 (Headley 0-1, Gregorius 1-2, Torreyes 1-1, Wade 0-3, Carter 2-5, Ellsbury 1-3, Judge 0-1, Gardner 2-2)
Team LOB: 8
FIELDING
E: Wade (2, throw); Ellsbury (1, bobble)

Game Information

StadiumMinute Maid Park, Houston, TX
Attendance40,024 (95.2% full) - % is based on regular season capacity
Game Time3:20
Weatherindoors
UmpiresHome Plate - Mark Wegner, First Base - Marty Foster, Second Base - Mike Muchlinski, Third Base - Mike Winters