About Last Night: Astros 9, Yankees 7

About Last Night: Astros 9, Yankees 7

By Derek McAdam

August 26, 2026

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The Houston Astros defeated the New York Yankees by a score of 9-7 last night, taking the first of a three-game series in the Bronx. Here’s a quick recap of last night’s game.

Quick Stats:

W: Bryan Abreu (5-3): 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER                 

L: Brent Headrick (7-3): 0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 K

S: Josh Hader (19): 1.1 IP, 1 K

HRs: HOU: Yainer Diaz (9, 10), Jeremy Pena (15)  NYY: Cody Bellinger (12), Luis Garcia Jr. (27)

Big Story: Coming into last night’s game, the top headline was Astros’ GM Dana Brown mutually agreeing to step down from his role on Monday, just months before his contract was set to expire. The Astros are battling for the AL West title, but manager Joe Espada remains in his role, which would have seemed to be the more likely candidate to be fired.

Will Warren got the start for the Yankees last night and was hoping to have better luck on the mound, posting a nearly 6 ERA over his last dozen or so starts.

The Astros found themselves with a scoring opportunity in the 1st, when Yordan Alvarez singled with one out. Jose Altuve then hit an infield single with two outs, but an error from George Lombard Jr. allowed Alvarez to advance to 3rd. However, Warren was able to work out of trouble, getting Daulton Varsho to ground out to end the inning.

In the 2nd, the Astros got on the board first when Diaz hit a solo home run into the first couple of rows in left field for a 1-0 lead. And in the bottom of the inning, the Yankees had their first scoring opportunity of the game when Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Austin Wells worked walks with two outs for Jose Caballero, who grounded out to end the inning.

After a two-out single from Altuve and a passed ball from Wells that allowed him to advance to 2nd base, Varsho hit an RBI single through the left side to score Altuve and give the Astros a 2-0 lead. And yet again in the bottom of the inning, the Yankees had a scoring opportunity with runners on the corners and one out for Bellinger, who smacked a three-run home run into the right field seats to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. It was his first home run since June 17.

But in the 5th, the Astros would tie the game when Varsho hit an RBI single to score Alvarez and make the new score 3-3. Later in the bottom of the inning, Garcia Jr. would hit his 27th home run of the season to give the Yankees the lead back at 5-3.

After Warren gave the Yankees five innings and was in line for the win, Fernando Cruz came on in relief. After walking the No. 9 batter to turn the order over, Pena hit a two-run home run to left to tie the game at 5-5.

In the 7th, the Yankees had runners on the corners with one out for Garcia, who was already 3-for-3 in the game. Garcia ripped an RBI double down the right field line to give the Yankees a 6-5 lead, with potentially more runs in store. However, Bellinger grounded into a fielder’s choice to get Ben Rice out at home. And Lombard flew out to right to end the inning.

And as this game just seemed to go, Headrick came on in the 8th with a one-run lead. And with one out, Diaz hit an opposite field solo home run to right for his second home run of the night, and once again tying the game at 6-6. After Pena hit a single, Alvarez then hit an RBI triple to give the Astros a 7-6 lead. Isaac Paredes then hit an RBI single up the middle to give the Astros an 8-6 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, Spencer Jones led off the inning with a double before Chisholm hit an RBI single into right field to pull the Yankees back within one run at 8-7.

But in the 9th, after Cam Smith hit a two-out triple, Diaz torched the Yankees again with an RBI double to give the Astros a 9-7 lead. Hader recorded a four-out save to notch his 19th save of the season to secure the Astros’ victory.

Player of the Game: Diaz definitely gave the Yankees a fit last night, scoring three of the Astros’ nine runs while also providing solid defense behind the plate.

Notable Performances: Garcia had a fantastic game for the Yankees, while Alvarez continues to have a great season with a three-hit performance. Hader has been incredible over the past couple of seasons and continued that trend last night.

Better to Forget: There’s no doubt Headrick would love to forget last night’s outing. His performance is what ultimately led to the Astros’ victory and while it was a rare bad outing, it was one that came at a very bad time.

My Take: This game was definitely one of the more entertaining games the Yankees have played lately, even though the results didn’t turn out their way. Last week, I had the exact opposite approach despite a Yankees’ win, so I guess I’m getting a bit of both sides. It was a back and forth game that saw both teams taking the lead, losing the lead, tying the game up, and re-taking the lead. This game had everything there was to offer.

The Yankees came into last night’s game with a 45-5 record when the offense scored five or more runs, which is the best in the league. But one thing the Yankees struggled with last night was putting the Astros away with two outs. And while Warren had an okay start on the mound, the bullpen was pretty dreadful. Cruz has been a disaster as of late and Headrick had his first appearance of the season in which he allowed two earned runs or more.

With the way the Yankees’ pitching staff has been performing so well lately, they were doomed to have a bad outing at some point. What was so surprising to me is how Headrick has not allowed more than one earned run in a game this season, but he seemed due for a bad outing, considering how often he has been used this season.

But one pitcher I am very much concerned about is Cruz. He has allowed way too many runs lately and could very well be experiencing some fatigue from his heavy usage this season. But he simply does not have the command lately to be coming in during tight games.

And of course, the Yankee offense came through last night with a couple of big home runs from Bellinger and Garcia, but it just was not enough to propel them to a victory. It’s a tough loss, and one that the Yankees wish they could have back since the Tampa Bay Rays also lost, but I’m not going to lose too much sleep over this one. They’ve played solid baseball lately, and hopefully can bounce right back tomorrow.

What’s Next?: These two teams will be back at it tonight for the second game of the series. Peter Lambert is scheduled to start for the Astros, but the Yankees have yet to make a decision on their starter, although Gerrit Cole would be the next starter up, although he will likely start Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from Yankee Stadium and will be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video.