Astros defeat Yankees for 3-1 ALCS lead

George Springer and Carlos Correa each hit three-run homers and the Houston Astros got another wild ace off the hook to beat the sloppy New York Yankees 8-3 Thursday night and reach the cusp of a second World Series visit in three years.

The Astros lead the AL Championship Series 3-1, putting the 2017 World Series winners on the brink of a showdown with the NL champion Washington Nationals.

Houston still has Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole queued up for this series, and the Yankees will have to defeat both to survive. Verlander will start Game 5 on Friday night versus James Paxton.

New York worked starter Zack Greinke hard during a 28-pitch first inning, but just like with Cole in Game 3, the clutch hit never came. Many fans had left Yankee Stadium by the time it ended shortly before 12:30 a.m.

The Yankees are at risk of failing to make the World Series for a full decade for the first time since the 1910s.

The 103-win Yankees are 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position the past two games. Didn’t help when they had four errors in Game 4, most ever for the club in a home postseason game.

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“We’re going to have to get some innings out of our starters, there’s no question about it. … Between [Tanaka] and [Game 5 starter James] Paxton these next two days, they’re going to need to give us some innings if we’re going to be successful. But again, we’ve got to go out and win a game. So I’ll be aggressive in that sense. But we do have to get some bulk innings out of some people, there’s no question.” Stated Aaron Boone.

Springer lined an errant splitter from playoff star Masahiro Tanaka in the third inning for his homer, and Correa battered Chad Green’s fastball when New York turned to its vaunted bullpen. Those All-Star sluggers have combined for just five hits in the series, but four have been homers.

Tanaka permitted four runs — three earned — for New York, his most in eight postseason starts.

CC Sabathia pitched in relief for New York but was pulled with an injury during the eighth inning. Planning to retire after the season, an emotional Sabathia covered his face with his glove as he left the field for perhaps the final time. Fans shouted his name as he walked off, and Cole and Springer were among the Houston players who stood and clapped for the 39-year-old.

Gary Sánchez ended a lengthy postseason slide with a two-run homer, but a reshuffled Yankees lineup — still without injured Giancarlo Stanton — again couldn’t string together its damage. The Astros lead the AL Championship Series 3-1, putting the 2017 World Series winners on the brink of a showdown with the NL champion Washington Nationals.

“The sooner we can use our best pitchers, the better for us,” Astros Manager A.J. Hinch said on a conference call with reporters on Wednesday afternoon. His team holds a two-games-to-one edge.

Should the series demand a sixth game, the teams would play Game 5 at 7 p.m. Eastern on Friday and take a four-hour flight to Houston in order to play at 7 p.m. Central in Houston on Saturday.

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