HOUSTON _ As a compromised Yankees lineup fashioned a surprising comeback on Friday night, Clint Frazier seemed ready to finally join the party.
Reports of Frazier's likely arrival Saturday at Minute Maid Park surfaced while the Yankees _ boosted by a five-run sixth inning dsah rallied for a 13-4 win against the Astros, owners of baseball's best record.
In the seventh inning, Brett Gardner's third career grand slam capped a three-hit, five-RBI night and salted away the victory before 40,024 fans.
By the ninth, outfielder Nori Aoki was making his pitching debut to sacrifice the Astros' pen.
Racked by injury and recent misfortune, the Yankees (43-35) are only too happy to bid adieu to a 13-15 June, their first losing month since April of 2016, with nine one-run losses.
Starlin Castro (hamstring), Matt Holliday (viral infection) and Aaron Hicks (oblique) were all lost to the disabled list in June, and Gary Sanchez was rested from Friday's lineup after the Yankees arrived at their team hotel at 6 a.m., due to a night game at Chicago that began after a two-hour, 50-minute rain delay.
"This game doesn't sit around and wait on anybody, you've got to deal with injuries throughout the course of a season," Gardner said earlier Friday. "Obviously, the last two weeks haven't gone as we would've planned but you've just got to fight through it."
Frazier would be the fourth position player to debut for the Yankees this week, following Tyler Wade, Miguel Andujar and Dustin Fowler _ likely to be transferred to the 60-day disabled list to include Frazier on the 40-man roster.
Fowler's devastating right knee injury in his debut Thursday night in right field put Frazier in play as a possible call-up. He's hitting .257 at Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs in 73 games.
News of Frazier's impending call up was first delivered by a Pawtucket Times reporter via Twitter, who overheard the right-handed hitting outfielder on his cell phone, saying he'd be in Houston on Saturday.
Frazier, 22, encountered controversy in his first big league camp with the Yankees this past spring, mainly for his flowing red mane.
Though he arrived at camp within the club's guidelines for hair length, the locks became enough of a media and clubhouse topic that Frazier bowed to suggestions by organizational elders _ including Reggie Jackson, whom Frazier idolizes _ to further cut his hair to conform.
Frazier was part of the celebrated haul of players the Yankees received from the Cleveland Indians at last summer's non-waiver trade deadline, when lefty reliever Andrew Miller went to the eventual AL champions.
Though some scouts questioned Frazier's long-term potential as a big-league impact player, he was still widely regarded behind Gleyber Torres as the Yankees' second best positional prospect.
Torres is out for the season due a left elbow injury incurred on a head-first slide into home plate in mid-June, which required Tommy John surgery.
Fowler's horrific injury, and the late-night defeat at Chicago had left the Yankees in second place as Friday night began, trailing the Red Sox by a game in the AL East. The Yanks had dropped 12 of their last 16 games and quickly fell behind 3-1 after four innings against Astros curveball artist Lance McCullers Jr.
But after McCullers Jr. (7-2) was chased in the sixth, Ronald Torreyes (3 for 3, 2 walks), Chris Carter, Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury each delivered RBI hits off reliever Michael Feliz, helping the Yanks to a 6-3 lead.
After a shaky beginning, Yankees starter Michael Pineda (8-4) lasted six innings and was charged with two runs on seven hits. He walked none and struck out three as the Yanks improved to 3-2 on this seven-game road trip.
