HOUSTON — The Yankees are developing an early formula for success: Fall behind early, get to the Astros’ bullpen and then let Oswaldo Cabrera and Juan Soto work their magic.
The two-man wrecking crew of Cabrera and Soto — only one half of which was expected to be making this kind of daily impact — did it again on Saturday night, sparking the Yankees to a third straight comeback win to open the season.
Cabrera delivered his second game-tying home run in three days, this one a two-run shot off Astros reliever Bryan Abreu in the seventh inning, before Soto took Abreu deep to the opposite field for a go-ahead blast, lifting the Yankees to a 5-3 win at Minute Maid Park.
“Winning the way we’ve been winning these games is incredible,” Soto said.
The Yankees are now 3-0 for the first time since 2003, securing their first series victory ahead of Sunday’s finale in a stadium that has mostly dealt them heartbreak in recent years.
“It’s three games in a long, long season,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But I love our mindset, I love our compete, I love our hunger. I feel like if we can maintain that and go out, we can be the team we want to be. But we’ve got a long way to go.”
Marcus Stroman tossed six strong innings in his Yankees debut, allowing only three unearned runs due to three errors, one of them his own. But he knew if he just kept the Yankees in the game, it was only a matter of time before his offense made its mark.
“We have such a calm, confident group but we all feel like we can explode at any point,” Stroman said.
After Stroman, Ian Hamilton (two innings) and Clay Holmes slammed the door shut, with the Yankees bullpen continuing its strong start to the season with 11 ²/₃ shutout innings.
Meanwhile, the Yankees have feasted off the Astros bullpen through the first three games, scoring 13 of their 17 runs against relievers.
That included Anthony Volpe’s first home run of the year, a solo shot off Ryan Pressly in the eighth inning to give the Yankees an insurance run.
The Yankees’ heavy at-bats — with Soto leading the way — helped knock Astros starter Hunter Brown out of the game after four innings, which he needed 88 pitches to get through. Then they made their move late once again.
“We got 27 outs, so we’re going to try to use all of them,” Volpe said. “I think early, it shows we’re not going to flinch from anybody. They’re obviously a really good team we’re playing against, but we trust our guys and we’re not going to give up.”
Stroman finished his night in style, with his 101st and final pitch of the night striking out Jeremy Peña to strand Alex Bregman at third base and keep the Yankees within striking distance with a 3-1 deficit heading to the seventh.
The go-ahead rally again started with a patient at-bat, this one from Austin Wells, who fell behind Abreu 0-2 before drawing a walk.
Cabrera came up next and on a 1-2 pitch, drilled a 97 mph inside fastball into the right-field seats, just out of the reach of Kyle Tucker at the wall.
Three batters later, Soto laced a rising line drive into the Crawford Boxes in left field for his first home run as a Yankee and the 4-3 lead.
“He’s a killer,” Boone said.
While Soto’s instant impact was largely expected, Cabera’s was not. The utilityman struggled through 2023 and got off to a tough start this spring before taking off in a well-timed surge with third baseman DJ LeMahieu getting injured.
And now the red-hot Cabrera is co-starring with Soto to start the season.
“He’s an incredible guy,” Cabrera said of Soto. “He’s not just a good baseball player, outside of the field he’s an amazing person too. Everybody loves that guy inside and outside of the field. But when we are in the cage, I’m like a kid just watching a big hero.”
