HOUSTON _ One late swing by D.J. LeMahieu had temporarily canceled one last night of Yankees regrets.
Down to their final two outs of 2019, the Yankees' team MVP won a grueling, 10-pitch at-bat against Houston Astros closer Roberto Osuna by launching a game-tying two-run homer to right.
Saturday's misfires with runners on base didn't matter.
It was a new ballgame.
Until...
Jose Altuve's two-run home run to left, in the bottom of the ninth off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman gave the Astros a 6-4 victory and the AL pennant.
Facing elimination on Friday night, the Yankees had rallied to get the AL Championship Series back to Houston for Game 6 and a possible Game 7.
And yet, their familiar ALCS storyline _ misfiring with runners on base _ followed them back to Minute Maid Park.
They'll spend a winter replaying and regretting those moments.
In a rare postseason game started and settled by a chain of relievers on each side, the Houston Astros struck early and survived a late, devastating punch by the Yankees.
For the second time in two years, the Astros defeated the Yankees to win the pennant in this ballpark, with the best-of-seven series having gone to the limit in 2017.
Now, A.J. Hinch's AL champions will meet the Washington Nationals in the World Series, beginning on Tuesday night.
Aaron Boone's 103-win AL East champs will scatter their separate ways, and several of them won't be wearing pinstripes in 2020.
But the consequences of being eliminated were not on Boone's menu in the hours before Game 6.
"We wanted to make sure we got on that plane (Friday) night. We did," Boone said of the Yankees' 4-1 win at Yankee Stadium.
"And I'm confident we'll come in here and go play our game and enjoy doing it."
But the Yankees were, to coin a Boone-ism, punched in the mouth right off the bat.
Yuli Gurriel's two-out, three-run homer off Yankees opener Chad Green gave Houston a first-inning, 3-0 lead and ignited a crazed, orange-towel waving crowd of 43,357.
Boone's best scenario had Green going two innings, maybe even touching a third, as he planned a bullpen strategy with one eye on Game 7.
The idea was to put "guys in the best position to have their stuff match up" with Houston's deep lineup, and to not "overtax so many people that they're not available for (Sunday).
"But we've got to win" Game 6.
Still, J.A. Happ and Luis Cessa gave them a chance with four combined scoreless innings, as the Yankees closed within 3-2 against Houston's string of relievers.
Gary Sanchez collected his first RBI of the series, singling home Didi Gregorius (double) in the second, off opener Brad Peacock.
But Sanchez was just 3 for 23 in the ALCS and Edwin Encarnacion (0for 3, three strikeouts) was a woeful 1 for 18, with eight strikeouts.
Gio Urshela launched a solo homer off Jose Urquidy in the fourth, but the Yankees missed a chance in the third.
With the bases loaded, Ryan Pressly entered and needed one pitch to induce an inning-ending Gregorius comebacker, though Pressly injured his knee on the play and was replaced in the fifth.
Brett Gardner barely missed making it back-to-back homers off Urquidy, pulling one just to the right of the foul pole, 324 feet from home plate.
In the sixth, with runners at first and second, Gardner's bullet of a sinking liner was snared by Josh Reddick's headlong diving catch for the second out.
Had it gone under Reddick's glove, Gardner might have had an inside-the-park three-run homer.
Instead, Houston kept its 3-2 lead and tacked on a run against Tommy Kahnle _ pitching for a third straight day for the first time this year _ in the bottom half.
That run scored on an Alex Bregman groundout to shortstop with none out and runners at the corners; instead of going home for an out, Gregorius delayed a moment and tried for a double play.
And when Aaron Judge was doubled off first base, ending the seventh inning after a sensational catch by Michael Brantley, the champagne carts began rolling toward the home clubhouse.
Thursday's Game 4 Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka wasn't a relief option for Boone in Game 6, but the manager reserved the right to tap Game 7 starter Luis Severino if necessary.
"I'll be available ... I'll a hundred percent be there," Severino said before the game, though he was more pumped up about pitching in a potential winner-take-all situation on Sunday.
"Since I was a kid, I've been a Yankee fan," Severino said. "And being in that situation in Game 7 for a team that I love ... would be one of my best experiences."
And the Astros had a strong Cy Young award candidate in Gerrit Cole on standby for Game 7, also on regular rest after pitching seven shutout innings in Houston's Game 3 victory.
