HOUSTON – Just over an inning and a half into their season, the Yankees trailed by four runs with their injured ace watching from the dugout.
Through four innings, their new-look offense had grounded into three inning-ending double plays, and outside their dugout, the world was seemingly nearing an end as the stench of an 82-80 season still lingered.
But the new season brings a chance for new endings, and at least on this day, the Yankees found a way out of the hole they had dug for themselves.
A patient offense began to claw back in the fifth inning, tied it in the sixth and then took its first lead in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Alex Verdugo, which stood up as the winning run as the Yankees beat the Astros 5-4 on Thursday afternoon at Minute Maid Park.
Juan Soto, acquired for his bat, saved the game in the bottom of the ninth with his arm.
With one out and runners on first and second, Kyle Tucker roped a single to right field off Clay Holmes and Soto came up firing to the plate.
His one-hop throw got to Jose Trevino just in time to slap the tag on Mauricio Dubon in a bang-bang play. The Astros challenged the call but after replay review, it stood.
Two pitches later, the Yankees were 1-0.