Following their season-opening four-game sweep of the Houston Astros, the Yankees announced the acquisition of right-hand pitcher Jake Cousins via trade with the Chicago White Sox.
In exchange for the 29-year-old reliever, New York will send money. After committing to a minor league contract in December, Cousins was not included in Chicago’s 40-man roster.
Cousins has thrown to a 3.08 ERA (4.12 FIP) and 1.386 WHIP over 52.2 innings and 51 appearances during the last three seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The majority of those outings—30 games and 30.0 innings—occurred during the 2021 campaign.
The six-foot-four righty primarily uses three pitches, mostly relying on a slider (almost 60% of his offerings) and a sinker (about 30%).
He boasts a 52.6 percent ground ball percentage in his three years in the major leagues, a stat that the Yankees usually prefer to see from their pitchers.
With Juan Soto’s game-winning hit in the ninth inning, the Yankees defeat the Astros 4-3 to begin a 4-game sweep.
Houston (AP)Juan Soto led the New York Yankees to a 4-3 victory on Sunday, capping a four-game opening series sweep of the Houston Astros with an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning.
Gleyber Torres stole second base in the ninth inning after hitting a single off closer Josh Hader (0-1) with two outs and the score tied at three. Then, on a line drive to left field, Soto singled.
Manager Aaron Boone remarked, “It just put a bow on the series of everything we witnessed in his at-bats.”
In his first games with the Yankees following his trade from San Diego, Soto hit.529 (9 for 17) with four RBIs, leading New York to its fourth 4-0 start since 1950 and its first since 2003.
“It’s the kind of start I was hoping for,” Soto chuckled. “I worked incredibly hard to prepare for success at the start of the season this summer and in the spring.”
In the bottom of the inning, against Clay Holmes, the Astros had a chance to tie the game.Pinch hitter Victor Caratini and Jeremy Peña both singles, and Jose Altuve hit a strong ground ball that third baseman Jon Berti dived to grab and raced to third for a forceout.
Yordan Alvarez led pinch runner Mauricio Dubón to third base with a fly ball after hitting a drive that was two inches foul of the left-field line.It ended with a sliding catch by Alex Verdugo in left field on a ball hit by Kyle Tucker, earning Holmes his third save.
Boone remarked, “Watching these guys compete is just so much joy, and it’s happening on both sides of the ball.”
Against Detroit on April 17, 2019, Nick Burdi (1-0) recorded his first major league victory by getting the final two outs of the eighth inning. During the series, 15 1/3 scoreless innings were pitched by Yankees relievers.
For the first time since the Astros’ 2011 opening five-game losing streak, Altuve doubled and hit a home run for the 0-4 team. From the beginning of the season until now, Houston has dropped nine straight home games—including the playoffs—and seven in a row against the Yankees.
First-year manager Joe Espada commented, “I appreciate the struggle.” That’s the main idea here. Give it a go for yourself. If you battle through to the very end of the game, you’ll be in a strong position to win matches.
When Altuve doubled to left field in the sixth, the Astros were behind by two runs. Altuve scored on Tucker’s double with one out in the inning to tie the game at 3-2 and drive Clarke Schimdt out.
After Yainer Diaz took over, a two-out RBI single by Diaz knotted the game at three.
Jose Trevino’s single brought Giancarlo Stanton home, and in the third, Altuve’s home run brought the score even.In the fourth inning, Anthony Rizzo doubled and scored on Berti’s single to give the team a 2-1 lead. In the fifth inning, Aaron Judge hit a sacrifice fly.
In 5 1/3 innings, Schmidt allowed three runs and seven hits.
This was a big-time series and a big-time sweep and a really fantastic way to start the season, Schmidt said. “Obviously, you don’t play playoff games in March.”
