HOUSTON — The Yankees have seen their postseasons end in Houston twice in recent seasons.
Now, after getting off to a historically good start in the first half, they came out of the All-Star break and got swept out of what’s become their House of Horrors, Minute Maid Park, on Thursday.
But to Aaron Boone, despite his team’s inability to so far figure out the Astros, what happens in July won’t matter at the end of the season.
“Ultimately, we may have to slay the dragon, right?” Boone said. “If it comes to it in October, the proof will be in the pudding. Do we get it done?”
They took another body shot from their rivals on Thursday, falling to 2-5 versus the Astros on the season after losing 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth in the opener and 7-5 when a ninth-inning rally came up short in the nightcap.
“The narrative’s not gonna change til you beat them in the playoffs, if that day comes,’’ Boone said. “We beat them four out of six last year and where did that get us? I understand it’s a big story in the season we’re in. It’s not gonna matter til October. If we happen to come back here in October, we’re gonna show up. We’re gonna expect to win.”
Even after the disappointing day and night, the Yankees (64-30) do still have the best record in the American League — and the majors — which is 2 ½ games better than Houston (61-32).
The Yankees’ two wins this year versus the Astros came in walk-off fashion, meaning they’ve led after just two of the 64 innings the teams have played this season.
They dropped the first game Thursday in tough fashion, as Houston won it in the bottom of the ninth with J.J. Matijevic’s two-out bases-loaded infield single off Michael King.
Then Domingo German was unimpressive in his season debut in the nightcap, allowing five runs in just three innings.
Aaron Judge’s three-run homer in the top of the ninth of the second game got the Yankees to within two runs before Gleyber Torres singled to bring up the tying run, but Matt Carpenter grounded into a double play to end it.
It left their demolition of the Red Sox to end the first half a distant memory.
Despite the sour taste after the losses, Judge said he was more interested in his team’s overall performance.
“I’m focused on [having] the best record in baseball,’’ Judge said. “They have a great team, but we’re not dwelling on things that happened in the past. We’re focused on this team.”
If they do meet again in the playoffs, Judge said, “October’s a different ballgame. Teams are different. This is a practice test. We’ll see how we stack up.”
To Judge’s point, if the Yankees do meet the Astros in a few months, chances are they won’t rest DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo, as they did in the nightcap, or start German.
But the fact remains, the Astros almost always seem to find a way to come out on top in these important matchups.
That’s why Judge, as well as Giancarlo Stanton and Jordan Montgomery, acknowledged the importance of holding onto the best record.
“We’ve got to make sure we get it,’’ Stanton said.
The Yankees had their season ended in Houston both in scandal-scarred 2017 and in 2019 thanks to the Astros having that edge — among other things.
“We’ll definitely have to get through them, as well as other great teams, to get where we want,’’ Stanton said.
“They’re tough on everybody,’’ Kyle Higashioka said. “To me, they seem battle-hardened from years of winning in the playoffs.”
But the catcher added that history won’t be important down the road.
“I don’t think it matters,’’ Higashioka said. “It’s in the past. We’ve got new players and so do they. We didn’t play our best baseball today and they beat us.”
As Boone said testily, “Don’t overstate it.”
