Yankees season ends in Game 7 heartbreaker

ASTROS 4 - YANKEES 0 
HOU wins series 4-3

The Yankees spectacular run in 2017 came to a screeching halt last night in the Lone Star State as the Houston Astros move on to the World Series after 4-0 victory over the Bronx Bombers in Game 7.

After getting shutdown by Justin Verlander in Game 6, the Yankees had no answer for the combination of Charlie Morton and Lance McCullers, both of whom combined to three-hit the Yankees.

For a team that has prided itself on power, the Yankees were totally stymied in every single game that was played in Houston in this LCS. In four games, New York scored only three runs. That is not going to win any games. To do nothing against Morton and McCullers is unacceptable.

Soon the Yankees inability to do anything offensively caught up with them in the fourth inning when Evan Gattis launched a 2-2 slider by CC Sabathia off the facing in left field for a solo home run to give the 'Stros a 1-0 lead. With the way the Yankee offense was hitting, the one run was more than enough.

It's not like New York didn't have a chance. They're best shot to do anything came and went in the fifth. Greg Bird led things off with a double and Aaron Hicks walked. However Todd Fraizer hit a hard grounder to third base that Alex Bregman made a tremendous play on when he threw home to nail Bird out at the plate. The throw was perfect. The tag by catcher Bryan McCann was even better.

The Yankees were turned aside, and the Astros put the game away in the bottom half of the inning. With Tommy Kahnle in the game, Jose Altuve ripped a pitch over the right field wall for a solo homerun to make it 2-0.

After Carols Correa and Yuli Gurriel singled, McCann killed his old team again when he doubled in both runners with a base hit to right. 4-0 Astros. The party was on.

While the ending was disappointing for New York, it did little to diminish what was a tremendous season for the Yankees. With so many young players, they were not expected to be a playoff team this year. They exceeded those expectations by leaps and bounds. Aaron Judge became an MVP candidate his first full season, and the Yankees have established a nice core with Judge, Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino and many others who are coming up through the pipeline.

The next question for New York will be the future of manager Joe Girardi. Girardi does not have a contract for next season and there has been plenty of speculation about his future. Girardi earned the right to be back in 2018. He has managed this team extremely well and deserves the chance to see it bear fruit next season.