HOUSTON _ All throughout the postseason the Yankees have drilled down to find an extra gear and that 11th-hour solution to every crisis.
So now it's that time again: just one victory away from the World Series, the Bombers ran into a brick wall named Justin Verlander in Game 6 of the ALCS on Friday night. They're headed for baseball's ultimate shootout Saturday against the Astros.
Game 7, baseball's gift to America, the only way a series as dramatic as this could possibly end. Prepare for a street fight, too, because not only did the Yankees fail to put away the Astros in a lopsided 7-1 loss, they watched helplessly as Houston's best hitter, Jose Altuve, came to life.
After slumping badly in the first five games, Altuve drove in three runs in Game 6, including a huge two-run double off Luis Severino in fifth inning and a home run off David Robertson in the eighth. The solo blast seemed to ignite the rest of the Astros' lineup, as the three-run rally put the game out of reach and shifted the Yankees' gaze to CC Sabathia, their last line of defense.
The question is whether the veteran left-hander can shut down the Astros and the overwhelming momentum that'll ignite the Western Division champs. That and a home crowd that, although not as hostile and intimidating as the ticket buyers in the Bronx this past week, a difference-maker nonetheless.
Minute Maid Park was energized from the moment the Astros took the field, full of noise and optimism that the worst was over. After a rough couple of days at the Stadium, the Astros had their best weapon waiting in Game 6.
And that was Verlander, who once again came up huge. He threw seven shutout innings and even though he wasn't quite as dominant as in Game 2, nevertheless stopped the Yankees cold every time they stirred.
Verlander allowed just five hits while striking out eight, matching Severino inning for inning until the Yankees right-hander finally broke in the fifth inning, knocked out and trailing by three runs.
The Bombers had promised they'd be better prepared for Verlander this time around, shifting their tactics to more first-pitch swinging and avoiding deep counts. Indeed, five of the first 10 batters went after Verlander's first offering. It would've made sense on any other night, against any other pitcher, perhaps. But Verlander used all four of his weapons _ 96-mph fastball, slider, curveball and change-up _ to effectively neutralize the Yankees' attack.
That's what Sabathia will be up against Saturday, a renewed Astros' offense and a creeping doubt within the Yankees' clubhouse of a wasted opportunity. Then again this is what the big man does best, isn't it? He picks the Yankees up after a loss, proves over and over that no moment is too big for him.
Sabathia's 10-0 record after a Yankees' defeat is no coincidence, certainly no accident. His remarkable sense of calm is one of his greatest assets and a reason why other Yankees look to him for leadership. Sabathia can't light up the radar gun like Severino and doesn't have a pitch that's as a deceiving as Masahiro Tanaka's splitter. But ask any Yankee who they trust with the season on the line and they'll you Sabathia loves the pressure.
Still, the veteran will have to cope with Altuve, who's found his bat speed, and cleanup hitter Carlos Correa, who was 2 for 4 and looks dangerous again, too. Sabathia better be precise on the corners and he needs to control the Astros' timing with varying sequences. None of this is new to Sabathia, it's how's he become one of the comeback players of the year. But the Yankees need him now more than ever.
The Yankees' best hope? Other than Sabathia's guts and their own infinite ability to come back from adversity, it's the Astros' Game 7 starter: Charlie Morton, who the Yankees lit up for seven earned runs in 32/3 innings in Game 3.
Without having to say so, the Bombers figured all they had to do was split the games started by Verlander and Dallas Keuchel. They did just that, beating Keuchel in Game 5 before losing to Verlander. Now they've found themselves at the back of the Astros' rotation. It's a reasonable path to the World Series.
But Game 7 is unlike any other big moment in October. It's the closest baseball gets to sudden death. Mistakes can be killers. Big hits can live forever. Players show up at the ballpark knowing their entire legacies can he shaped by the events of the next few hours.
The Bombers will tell you the Astros won 101 games during the regular season not because they were lucky, but because they scored runs in a blizzard _ the American League's No. 1 offense. They'll say it would've been unrealistic to think the middle of Houston's lineup could've been held down for the entire ALCS. That the four-run explosion off Robertson in the eighth was probably inevitable.
But the Yankees never wanted the series to get this far. One game to go, nine innings into the unknown.
Great theater, great baseball awaits. Now we'll see if the Bombers have one more game of magic in this gripping October run.
