HOUSTON — Yordan Alvarez, the Houston Astros’ designated hitter, and Jose Altuve, their second baseman, were two of the best hitters in Major League Baseball this season. Alvarez ranked second and Altuve fourth in on-base-plus-slugging percentage. Alvarez smashed 37 home runs while Altuve had 28.
Yet the two All-Stars have produced next to nothing at the plate against the Yankees through the first two games of the best-of-seven American League Championship Series. Regardless, the Astros are two wins away from a return trip to the World Series after toppling the Yankees, 3-2, in Game 2 on Thursday at Minute Maid Park. The next game is slated for Saturday in the Bronx.
The Astros, who are 5-0 this postseason, have thus far proven to be a more well-rounded team than the Yankees. In Game 1 on Wednesday, the Astros rode the pitching of their ace, Justin Verlander, but the offense mostly came from the bottom of the order: catcher Martín Maldonado, center fielder Chas McCormick and first baseman Yuli Gurriel.
In Game 2, the standout third baseman Alex Bregman produced the decisive blow — a three-run home run in the third inning — while the left-handed starting pitcher Framber Valdez overcame his own defensive miscues to toss seven stout innings.
Alvarez and Altuve, meanwhile, have gone a combined 1 for 13 with three walks through the two games. And after the lone hit — a single by Alvarez in the eighth inning — he was picked off at first base by the Yankees left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta.
To his credit, Alvarez carried the Astros in the previous round against the Seattle Mariners, smashing home runs that provided the go-ahead runs in two games of his team’s three-game sweep. But Altuve went 0 for 16 with six strikeouts and one walk. That the Astros, who are making their sixth straight A.L.C.S. appearance, can keep winning without being at their best is a testament to their depth.
Through the years, the Astros have seen stars like shortstop Carlos Correa, outfielder George Springer and the starting pitchers Gerrit Cole and Dallas Keuchel depart via free agency. Yet the Astros remain a perennial contender because of the strength of their remaining players and the young newcomers, like right fielder Kyle Tucker, the rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña and Valdez.
On Thursday, the extent of the Astros’ scoring came in the third inning. Luis Severino, who started for the Yankees, pitched well minus the one offering to Bregman. He hit Maldonado with a pitch to lead off the frame. Two batters later, Peña singled.
Up came Alvarez and the crowd at Minute Maid Park came to its feet expecting to see the slugger produce something majestic. He, however, grounded a ball to the Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Despite his size (6-foot-5, 225 pounds), Alvarez isn’t slow and he beat out the potential double play. This proved to be key because Bregman capitalized off Severino.
When Severino threw a fastball in toward Bregman’s hands, Bregman fouled it off. When Severino went there again with the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Bregman swung his hands around in time and hit the ball into the left field seats for a three-run blast.
It was the Astros’ fourth home run in two games. All but one of their seven runs this series have come via the home run.
To improve the team’s defense and spark the offense, Yankees Manager Aaron Boone has tinkered with the lineup this postseason. After benching shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa late in the previous round against the Cleveland Guardians and using the rookie Oswaldo Cabrera, Boone turned to Kiner-Falefa again in Game 1 of the A.L.C.S. He also placed Giancarlo Stanton, who has been a designated hitter since he returned from Achilles tendinitis in August, in left field and Matt Carpenter, who returned from a fractured foot for the playoffs, at designated hitter.
But against Valdez, a ground-ball pitcher, Boone wanted hitters who could hit the ball in the air. So he put Cabrera back at left field, started another rookie, Oswald Peraza, at shortstop and asked Stanton to D.H. again, sitting the left-handed-hitting Carpenter against Valdez. The tweaked lineup didn’t produce enough offense against an Astros pitching staff that had the second-best E.R.A. in M.L.B. this season, barely trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers. And Valdez ended up striking out nine Yankees.
The Yankees surged back into the game in the fourth inning because of Valdez’s defensive lapses. Aaron Judge, the Yankees star right fielder, singled to lead off the frame. Then Stanton chopped a ball up the middle. But Valdez fumbled the ball as he fielded it and then threw errantly to first base. The two errors charged to Valdez put Judge and Stanton into scoring position.
So when Rizzo grounded out, Judge scored. And when second baseman Gleyber Torres singled, Stanton ran home to cut the Yankees’ deficit to 3-2. The Yankees failed to muster anything after that.
Judge did scare Astros fans in the top of the eighth inning. With center fielder Harrison Bader on first base after a walk, Judge faced the right-handed reliever Bryan Abreu. Judge, who smashed a A.L. record 62 home runs during the regular season, sent a ball deep and high toward the right-field seats. Tucker jumped to snare the ball — and the Yankees’ comeback hopes — at the wall.