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HOUSTON — The Yankees are in the midst of a daunting 12-game stretch against four tough opponents. 

Or five, if you include Brian Walsh. 

But unlike Wednesday night, when they felt Walsh cost them the game behind the plate, the Yankees were able to overcome another gaffe from the same umpire to claim the rubber game with a tense 8-4 win over the Astros on Thursday night. 

Walsh’s controversial call that Ryan McMahon dropped a ball at third base and did not just lose it on the transfer — which appeared to clearly be the case — led to a run in the sixth inning that pulled the Astros within 4-2. 

It was 4-3 entering the eighth when McMahon created some breathing room with an RBI single in the top of the eighth before Trent Grisham unloaded for a three-run homer, his 30th of the year, that put the Yankees ahead 8-3 and silenced the crowd of 35,018. 

Still, more drama ensued in the bottom of the ninth.

David Bednar entered and allowed back-to-back hits, the second one a double by Taylor Trammell, at which point Aaron Boone went to speak with crew chief Adrian Johnson about the bat he used.

After a lengthy delay, with Johnson conferring with the replay office back in New York, he handed the bat to an official authenticator, presumably to be reviewed by the league. 

The Astros (77-64) went on to bring the tying run to the plate with one out before Bednar struck out Carlos Correa and Christian Walker to end it. 

The wild win sent the Yankees (78-62) flying high back to New York for another big weekend showdown against the Blue Jays, whom they now trail by three games for the AL East with 22 games to play.

The Yankees also moved a half-game ahead of the Red Sox for the top AL wild card. 

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Before chaos ensued, the Yankees were hit with an injury scare when Jazz Chisholm Jr. left the game in the fourth inning with contusions to both knees, which happened on separate plays. 

Luke Weaver gave up a home run to Jesús Sánchez to lead off the seventh, and when two more Astros reached base with two outs, it was all beginning to feel agonizingly familiar for the Yankees. 

But Fernando Cruz entered from the bullpen to get a huge strikeout of forever Yankees nemesis Jose Altuve to escape the jam. 

Coming off an excruciating loss on Wednesday night, the Yankees led 4-1 entering the sixth inning when the umpiring crew made its presence known once again. 

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With a man on second, Altuve hit a soft liner to third base, where McMahon appeared to catch it and then lose the ball on the transfer.

But Walsh, who missed multiple calls behind the plate during Devin Williams’ eighth-inning meltdown Wednesday, ruled that McMahon never secured the ball. 

Aaron Boone ran onto the field and got the umpires to talk about the play — which was not reviewable — among themselves, but ultimately they came to the conclusion that McMahon did not catch the ball. 

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Incredulous, Boone headed back onto the field to try to get an explanation, though somehow he maintained his composure and did not get ejected for what would have been the second night in a row. 

Carlos Rodón got the next batter, Carlos Correa, to ground into a fielder’s choice that should have been a double play, except Ben Rice could not catch a low throw from second baseman José Caballero, allowing the run to score from second to make it 4-2. 

But Rodón retired the next two batters in order to keep the inning from getting out of hand, finishing off a strong effort on 109 pitches. 

It was a 1-1 game in the fifth inning when McMahon — who went 3-for-4 with three RBIs — led off by crushing a home run to center field off Cristian Javier, his third as a Yankee. 

Cody Bellinger added an RBI single before the Yankees made it 4-1 when Caballero walked on a pitch clock violation in a full count — the Astros’ second such walk of the night — with the bases loaded.