Lineups
YANKEES
1. D.J. LeMahieu, 1B
2. Aaron Judge, RF
3. Gleyber Torres, 2B
4. Aaron Hicks, CF
5. Edwin Encarnacion, DH
6. Didi Gregorius, SS
7. Gary Sanchez, C
8. Gio Urshela, 3B
9. Brett Gardner, LF
Chad Green, P
ASTROS
1. George Springer, CF
2. Jose Altuve, 2B
3. Michael Brantley, LF
4. Alex Bregman, 3B
5. Yuli Gurriel, 1B
6. Carlos Correa, SS
7. Yordan Alvarez, DH
8. Martin Maldonado, C
9. Josh Reddick, RF
Brad Peacock, P
Encarnacion, who is mired in a 1-for-19 slump in his last five games, is back in the lineup as the designated hitter instead of Giancarlo Stanton. Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said the long flight was a factor for Stanton, who is recovering from a quad injury, and added that he thought Encarnacion would do well.
Astros Manager A.J. Hinch said he was opening with Peacock because he felt Peacock matched up well with the top of the Yankees’ order. Peacock pitched the eighth inning of Game 5 Friday, and got Gardner, LeMahieu and Judge in order on eight pitches.
Pregame Story Lines
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Without a day off to rest in between games, the Yankees and Astros traveled from New York to Houston overnight and will suit up again for Game 6 at Minute Maid Park less than 24 hours after the end of Game 5. The Yankees face the prospect of a season-ending loss for the second straight day, but they responded to that pressure well on Friday.
If the Yankees can win Game 6, it will put all the pressure on the Astros, who would be at risk of becoming just the 14th team out of 86 to lose a seven-game series after taking a three-games-to-one lead. Only eight teams in postseason history have lost three games in a row and still won the series. The last to do it was the Astros, in 2017, against the Yankees.
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The Yankees played a crisp game on Friday night in Game 5 — rebounding well from the sloppiness of Game 4 — as James Paxton delivered a signature Yankee performance to cool off the Houston bats. The Yankees broke out with four runs against Justin Verlander in the first inning — all on two home runs — and Paxton and the bullpen made it stand up. Aaron Boone even had a good game decision-wise, sticking with Paxton in a critical situation in the sixth instead of switching to the right-hander Tommy Kahnle against right-handed batter Robinson Chirinos. Paxton rewarded Boone’s faith by getting the third out on a long fly ball.
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Both teams are going to use their bullpens for the entire game on Saturday instead of a traditional starter, meaning there will be a lot of mixing, matching and changes through the night. The Rays used that strategy in Game 4 of their divisional series against Houston, and it really seemed to bother the Astros hitters, some of whom saw four different pitchers in their four at-bats.
The Yankees were 13-7 in regular season games where they used an opener. They started out 11-0 and then went 2-7 in the last nine such games. The Yankees will open with Chad Green. The Astros, who will open with Brad Peacock, said their three “headliners” would be Joe Smith, Will Harris and Roberto Osuna.