Judge Rises, Yankees Still Alive in ALCS

YANKEES 8 - ASTROS 1 
HOU leads Series 2-1

All rise, the Judge is back. Aaron Judge awoke from his postseason slumber to help deliver a much needed laugher for the Yankees as they blew away the Houston Astros 8-1 in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. After two crushing losses to open the series in Houston, the Yankees won a game the desperately had to have to keep the series alive.

Judge played a key roll in the win. First he robbed Yuil Gurriel of extra bases when he snared in a fly ball against the right field wall. Then, a couple of innings later, Judge destroyed a Will Harris cutter and planted it over the left field wall for a 3-run homer that blew the game wide open at 8-0.

For a man who has really struggled to find his stroke this postseason, Judge's Game Three performance was a reminder of how dominant he can be. If it serves as a turning point will depend on how he does in Game 4 on Tuesday afternoon.

Judge wasn't the only headline grabber of the night. The Yankees started the party early when Todd Fraizer flicked a low fastball from Charlie Morton and dropped it just over the right field wall for a 3-run homer to give the Bombers a 3-0 lead.

From there it was the CC Sabathia Show. Sabathia dominated the Astros, holding them to just three hits and no runs. While CC did walk four batters, he struck out five and gave Joe Girardi his best performance of this postseason.

Sabathia has been that stabilizing for the for the Yankees all season. He is 10-0 in games where the Yankees are coming off a loss. Talk about being a stopper? That is exactly what he has been this year, and exactly what he was Monday night.

With the series now a 2-1 Houston lead, it is up to Sonny Gray to keep the momentum going for New York. Gray hasn't pitched too well since being acquired from Oakland. This needs to be his best performance as a Yankee if the Yankees are going to make the Astros truly sweat the rest of this series out.