{"id":47925,"date":"2017-10-17T09:46:33","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T09:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=47925"},"modified":"2017-10-17T09:46:33","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T09:46:33","slug":"freak-home-runs-stun-astros-get-new-york-back-in-alcs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/mlb\/freak-home-runs-stun-astros-get-new-york-back-in-alcs.html","title":{"rendered":"Freak home runs stun Astros, get New York back in ALCS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Freak home runs stun Astros, get New York back in ALCS<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Todd Frazier called it an \u201cunorthodox swing.\u2019\u2019 A.J. Hinch described it as an \u201cawkward swing.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

More precisely, it was a Yankee Stadium swing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only two major league ballparks yielded more home runs this season than the New York Yankees\u2019 home field, where they banged out 140 of their big league-leading 241. Frazier didn\u2019t join the club until July 19, but it didn\u2019t take him long to find the stadium\u2019s sweet spot in right field.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly where he directed a three-run shot Monday that set the Yankees on course for an 8-1 victory over the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, which might have just changed direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

New York had lost the first two games by 2-1 scores and badly needed to revive a moribund offense that came in batting .200 for the series. Frazier accomplished that with a second-inning swing that was, well, not exactly cribbed from Ted Williams’ The Science of Hitting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reaching out for Charlie Morton\u2019s 95 mph fastball on the outside and looking off-balance, Frazier still barreled the ball and sent it on a line over the right-field fence, a 365-foot drive that put the Yankees on top 3-0 while electrifying their fans and dugout. With one swing, they had scored one more run than in the previous two games combined.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t think it\u2019s going just because of how unorthodox the swing was,\u2019\u2019 said Frazier, who hit 11 of his 27 homers for New York after coming over in a trade with the Chicago White Sox. \u201cGuys throw really hard now. All you have to do is square it up in the right fashion, and that\u2019s what I did.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

So did Aaron Judge, who shook off his postseason slump \u2013 19 strikeouts in 31 at-bats \u2013 by rifling a three-run homer that capped the Yankees\u2019 five-run fourth, putting an end to any suspense in the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judge\u2019s shot to left field wasn\u2019t exactly one of those majestic drives that became his trademark during a season when he set a rookie record with 52. The homer cut through the wind on a chilly night and traveled 371 feet into the first row of the bleachers, but it did follow one trend from the season. New York\u2019s 39 three-run homers were five more than any other team had.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, it helps to play half your games in a stadium rated by ESPN\u2019s Ballpark Factors as the second most generous in the majors for the long ball.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Astros\u2019 Minute Maid Park rates right in the middle, so watching Frazier\u2019s ball sail into the seats left some of them dumbfounded.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you were to show me a video of his swing, the pitch speed and location, I would have never thought (home run),\u2019\u2019 said Morton, who has given up three in his career to Frazier. \u201cThat was unbelievable. But great piece of hitting.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Right fielder Josh Reddick was just as surprised.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt looked like he just hit it off the end (of the bat). It looked like it was just going to be a fly ball or a short line drive,\u2019\u2019 Reddick said. \u201cTo me it was just one of those things where \u2026 freak things happen.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

But they didn\u2019t for the Astros, who must be starting to scratch their heads about their own inability to score after leading the majors in runs during the season. Houston hitters not named Jose Altuve or Carlos Correa had managed three hits in 43 at-bats in the ALCS before Monday, when the team had four hits and spent most of the night flailing away at CC Sabathia\u2019s assortment of sliders and well-placed fastballs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even Altuve and Correa were not immune, going a combined 1-for-8. Correa had a particularly frustrating at-bat in the third inning, when he came up with the bases loaded and a chance to cut into some of the lead Frazier had just provided.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, he popped up to end the biggest threat against Sabathia, who yielded zero runs in six innings to improve to 10-0 with a 1.69 ERA in 13 starts after a New York loss this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the Yankees averaging six runs at home in the playoffs compared to three on the road, their chances of getting ahead in this series suddenly look considerably better. On Tuesday, they will be facing right-hander Lance McCullers, who dealt with arm fatigue late in the season and has not started a game since Sept. 30.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Yankees will send out Sonny Gray, who must have taken some notes watching Sabathia. The veteran lefty is now 5-1 with a 1.76 ERA in eight postseason games at Yankee Stadium after keeping an opponent scoreless for the first time in his 22 career postseason outings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s weird, me being 37, smoke and mirrors, getting a shutout,\u2019\u2019 said Sabathia, a former power pitcher who no relies on finesse. \u201cJust keep riding it, trying to throw strikes and being aggressive.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

And knowing how to avoid the danger spots in the ballpark.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/mlb\/2017\/10\/17\/yankees-astros-alcs-yankee-stadium-short-porch-todd-frazier\/770911001\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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