Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. reacts after giving up a home run to New York Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/ Karen Warren)
Karen Warren/Associated Press
New York Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts after his home run against Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)
Karen Warren/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Jose Altuve slides home on Yainer Diaz’s RBI single during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)
Karen Warren/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Yainer Diaz hits an RBI single against New York Yankees starting pitcher Will Warren during the second inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/ Karen Warren)
Karen Warren/Associated Press
New York Yankees starting pitcher Will Warren delivers to Houston Astros’ Carlos Correa during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/ Karen Warren)
Karen Warren/Associated Press
New York Yankees starting pitcher Will Warren delivers to Houston Astros’ Carlos Correa during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/ Karen Warren)
Karen Warren/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. reacts after New York Yankees’ Ben Rice’s RBI into a fielder’s choice during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/ Karen Warren)
Karen Warren/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. reacts after a ball was called against New York Yankees’ Trent Grisham during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/ Karen Warren)
Karen Warren/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. delivers to New York Yankees’ Trent Grisham during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/ Karen Warren)
Karen Warren/Associated Press
Houston Astros manager Joe Espada speaks to the media before a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/ Karen Warren)
Karen Warren/Associated Press
The fourth home run of the night off a visitor’s bat sailed into the Crawford Boxes and sparked an egress. Those streaming toward the concourses at Daikin Park turned from a 10-run game in the seventh inning. Among those who remained, chants of “Let’s go, Yankees” arose.
In the opener of a weekend series Friday, the Houston Astros were routed by the New York Yankees, who put their potent offense on display. Houston’s was largely handcuffed in a 12-4 loss that dropped it to 10-17 and served instead to highlight its ongoing pitching issues.
Entering Friday, the Astros and Yankees ranked first and second, respectively, in the American League in OPS and first and third in runs per game. Their pitching staffs occupied different spheres. The Yankees’ owned the majors’ lowest ERA. Houston’s sported the highest.
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Against Lance McCullers Jr., the Yankees forged a three-run lead in the first inning and did not look back. They totaled 13 hits, six for extra bases, and drew six walks. The top three hitters in their lineup — Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger — combined to go 1-for-9 with five walks. It did not matter.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., who awoke hitting .188 with one home run, had three hits, including one of New York’s four homers, and matched his previous season total by driving in four runs. Ben Rice and Jose Caballero both had multiple hits, including a home run, and two RBIs. Ryan McMahon also homered.
Both of the Astros’ home runs, from Yainer Diaz and Braden Shewmake, came after Caballero’s blast off Colton Gordon put them in a 10-run deficit in the seventh. Manager Joe Espada emptied his bench after that, removing Carlos Correa, Yordan Alvarez, Isaac Paredes and Jose Altuve.
Houston was only outhit 13-11. But its lineup took nine at-bats with a runner in scoring position and totaled two hits in them. Yankees hitters were 7-for-12 in those situations, just one factor separating the teams on a lopsided Friday night.
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Yankees wait out McCullers
Asked pregame to assess the Yankees’ offense, manager Joe Espada noted: “They don’t swing a lot. They’re very precise when they swing the bats. They’re controlling the strike zone. When they do (swing) they like to slug. So, we have to control the strike zone, we have to get strike one and go from there.”
Not doing so early fueled the Yankees’ three-run first. They entered with the majors’ lowest swing rate and sixth-lowest chase rate. Grisham opened the game with a walk, swinging at one of seven pitches he saw from McCullers. Judge swung at none of five pitches he saw to draw a walk. Bellinger’s single loaded the bases with no outs.
McCullers induced a potential double-play grounder from Rice. Altuve’s attempt at a backhand flip to second sailed wide of Correa, however, yielding no outs as a run scored. McCullers turned Giancarlo Stanton’s sharp comebacker into a 1-2-3 double play but could not complete an escape, as Chisholm lined his full-count cutter for a two-run single and a 3-0 Yankees lead.
McCullers threw 30 pitches in the first inning. He needed just 41 to work the next three, but the Yankees added on with solo homers. McMahon sliced a cutter the opposite way into the first row of the Crawford Boxes in the second inning. Chisholm sent a center-cut changeup into the right-field seats in the fourth. Rice doubled to start the sixth and scored on a Stanton single, chasing McCullers.
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Espada’s pregame evaluation stood. The Yankees swung at just 31 of 92 pitches McCullers threw. When they did swing, they put 16 balls in play that averaged a 95.4 mph exit velocity. Just five swings yielded whiffs. McCullers allowed six hits, walked four, struck out three and allowed seven runs (five earned). He owns a 6.75 ERA through his first five starts of the season.
Warren dodges traffic
The Astros did not exact similar damage against Yankees starter Will Warren, even as they made the right-hander work in his six innings. Twice, the bottom half of an injury-thinned lineup was highlighted — in particular, an outfield missing Jake Meyers, Joey Loperfido and Taylor Trammell to the injured list.
Warren threw 27 pitches in the second inning. Altuve singled to open it and Cam Smith drew a one-out walk. That brought up Dustin Harris, the recent waiver claim making his second start in left field for the Astros and 16th overall in the majors. Harris saw six pitches from Warren but took a sweeper for a called third strike.
Diaz’s opposite-field single salvaged a run from the inning. Brice Matthews, making only his third major-league start in center field, struck out to end it, unable to check his swing on a high 2-2 fastball.
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In the fourth, Altuve doubled and Christian Walker singled to put men on first and third with nobody out. Smith’s groundout into a pulled-back infield scored Altuve. Harris, again, struck out looking, this time on a 2-2 fastball. Diaz lined out to end the frame. Warren allowed seven hits across six innings but only two runs. He struck out six and held Houston to a 2-for-8 mark with runners in scoring position.
No relief
Colton Gordon replaced McCullers in the sixth with the Yankees leading 6-2, two runners on base and no outs. Though handed a tough assignment, Gordon could not keep things close. He allowed three of his first four batters to reach, via a walk and two hits, and two more runs to score before he finished the inning.
His first four batters faced in the seventh reached, as well, fueling a four-run Yankees inning. Gordon recorded six outs, allowed seven hits, walked two batters, struck out none and gave up five runs. He threw 53 pitches across two innings in which the game got out of hand.
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Jayden Murray, who briefly started to warm during McCullers’ 30-pitch first inning, worked a scoreless eighth. For the ninth, the Astros used Bryan Abreu for his first appearance in a week. Abreu retired all three batters faced, but his fastball averaged 93.7 mph, down from a 95.4 mph season average.