Astros Thump Yankees Again, Bombers Start 0-2

ASTROS 3/YANKEES 1

Maybe the Houston Astros knew what they were doing by going all out to honor Yankees short stop Derek Jeter on Wednesday.

 They trotted out Roger Clemens, Mike Stanton and Andy Pettitte, former Yankees teammates, who also pitched for the Astros about a decade ago, and gave Jeter all kinds of gifts from cowboy boots to golf clubs. And, to top it off, the Astros were actually selling Jeter jersey's in their store.

Maybe the Astros were trying to light a fire under their team's butt in addition to making some money? Nothing should motivate a team more than when its own front office decides to honor the opposing team.

If true, it worked as the Astros beat New York 3-1, and have dominated this series taking the first two contests.

This from an Astros team that won all of 51 games last season!

The Yankees through two games look old. Their lineup from seven through nine looks about as average as a National League lineup. The middle of the order with All Star names like Beltran, Teixiera, Jeter, McCann, Soriano, and even Ellsbury look nothing like the big time hitters they are supposed to be.

The Yankees were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They couldn't get a clutch hit if their lives depended on it. They allowed Jarred Cosart and the Astros usually beleaguered bullpen to dominate them from start to finish. Cosart never broke a sweat, in fact, nobody did, as ten Yankees were struck out in this contest. The Yankees as a team are hitting a dreadful .197. They make the Mets look like world beaters.

The Astros meanwhile, picked up where they left off in the opener. Dexter Fowler cracked a first inning home run off of Hiroki Kuroda and Houston was off and running to victory. Kuroda wasn't terrible. He settled in after the Fowler homer, allowing only two runs on three hits with five Ks, but with so little offense there is nothing any pitcher can do.

At 0-2 it is easy to panic, but there are too many veterans on this team to give up on them. Eventually the Yankees will figure it out, but dropping two games to the Astros? Eyebrows have been raised for sure.

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