Astros, Yankees trade bombs as Alvarez, Bellinger, Garcia go deep

The Astros and Yankees have turned their series at Yankee Stadium into a full-blown slugfest. Game 1 on August 25 was a back-and-forth bomb-fest that Houston eventually won 9-7, and it started with Cody Bellinger reminding everyone why the Yankees signed him in the first place.

Eric Hubbs

@BarstoolHubbs

So that's what that feels like... A real life baseball player who can hit

Houston answered. Luis Garcia Jr. hit a two-run shot of his own to keep it a track meet, and Eric Hubbs couldn't help but rib the trot: "If Luis Garcia Jr. is taking a stroll to first we're going around all of the bases," he wrote on post-cc71cd21-00e8-4da6-bbb7-3c346a67d43d, watching Garcia's homer tie the game right back up.

Barstool Baseball

@StoolBaseball

JEREMY PEÑA TIES IT

That one didn't hold either. Yordan Alvarez's eighth-inning triple sparked the go-ahead rally that finally put the game away for Houston, 9-7. Five different home runs left the yard that night, and the Astros were the ones standing when it stopped.

The Yankees didn't wait long to get even. The very next night, a Trent Grisham misread on a fly ball in the first inning let an Astros hit turn into a double and handed Houston an early 1-0 lead — the kind of gaffe that had Yankees fans in the replies losing their minds before the game was even five minutes old.

Barstool Baseball

@StoolBaseball

Not great Grish

Ben Rice made sure that wasn't going to stand. He answered right back with a first-inning solo shot of his own, a no-doubter at 364 feet and 107.4 mph that had the Yankee Stadium crowd right back in it.

From there the Yankees pulled away for real, breaking things open with a big seventh-inning rally that included another Luis Garcia Jr. blast, and closing it out 9-3 to even the series at a game apiece. Hubbs' postgame rundown gave credit where it was due — pitching that "dodged an explosion," and "Belli with the big swing. Benny, Spencer, Jazz and Garcia as well."

Eric Hubbs

@BarstoolHubbs

Elmer came up big time. Much improved from what we’ve seen. 6 strong. Blackburn came after and dodged an explosion. That won the game. Belli with the big swing. Benny, Spencer, Jazz and Garcia as well. Good W, get the game back from Boston and stay with Tampa.

There's more on the line here than just bragging rights between these two. The Yankees are clinging to the top AL Wild Card spot, sitting a couple games ahead of Boston and trying to keep pace with a Tampa Bay club that's running away with the AL East — which is exactly what Hubbs meant by "get the game back from Boston and stay with Tampa." With the series knotted up, the rubber match on August 27 decides who leaves New York on a high note, and if the first two games are any indication, it's not going to be short on home runs.