Astros quiet Yankees’ bats again in Game 3, take commanding 3-0 advantage in ALCS

Six Astros pitchers threw a combined shutout in Game 3 as the Yankees continued to struggle at the plate in the series.  

Houston starter Cristian Javier threw 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out five to earn the win. Meanwhile, the Astro's bullpen posted 3.2 solid innings of work in relief of Javier to pull Houston to within a victory of the World Series.

While Javier and the Astros' pen nailed things down on the mound, their offense got to work early. 

In the second inning, a botched routine fly-ball turned into two runs for the Astros. Yankees' outfielder Harrison Bader dropped a pop-up from Houston catcher Christian Vazquez, keeping the inning alive with two outs. A batter later, Chas McCormick made the Yankees pay, smashing a line drive home run to right field of Gerrit Cole to put Houston on top 2-0.  

Stil leading 2-0 in the sixth, the Astros added some insurance. 

Houston loaded the bases with no outs after an Alex Bregman double led off the inning, followed by a Kyle Tucker walk and a single from Yuli Gurriel. With the bases juiced, the Yankees decided to pull starter Gerrit Cole in favor of reliever Lou Trivino. Trey Mancini greeted Trivino with a sacrifice fly to drive in a run, followed by a two-run single by Vazquez, upping the Astros' advantage to 5-0. 

The Yankees did attempt a two-out rally in the ninth, but after back-to-back singles from Matt Carpenter and Bader, Astros' reliever Bryan Abreu sat down Josh Donaldson swinging for the final out. 

The Astros will look to close the series out and eliminate the Yankees when the two face off for Game 4 at Yankee Stadium on Sunday at 7:07 p.m.