Walker Homers as Astros Beat Yankees 5-1

Christian Walker went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer off Gerrit Cole as the Houston Astros beat the New York Yankees 5-1 on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium. The Associated Press, carried by CBS Sports and ABC News, called it a three-hit night that snapped Walker's 0-for-11 skid. ESPN's box score had the homer in the sixth, 369 feet to right-center, scoring Daulton Varsho for a 3-0 lead. It was Walker's 24th home run. Houston took two of three in the Bronx and sits 67-67, one game up on Texas in the AL West.

Jeremy Pena added a solo shot, his 16th, in the seventh off Yerry de los Santos. Pena had already scored the first run. Cole hit him in the hand in the third, and Isaac Paredes singled him home. Walker doubled off Justin Topa in the eighth and scored when the Yankees made two errors on one play. That made it 5-1. The rest was pitching.

What was the Astros vs Yankees final score?

Houston 5, New York 1. Hayden Wesneski (4-1) got the win. ESPN listed him at five innings, three hits, one earned run, six strikeouts, and two walks. The AP noted the Yankees drafted him in 2019 and traded him to the Chicago Cubs in 2022 for Scott Effross. Steven Okert, A.J. Blubaugh, and Josh Hader finished a five-hitter. Hader struck out two in a clean ninth. Cole (7-7) went six innings, six hits, three earned runs, five strikeouts, and one walk. That walk was Varsho, immediately before Walker went deep on a 1-0 curveball.

New York's only run was a Cody Bellinger sacrifice fly that scored Ben Rice in the sixth. George Lombard Jr. committed his seventh error in 20 career games, the first Yankees shortstop to err in six straight games since Roger Peckinpaugh in 1915, the AP wrote. Jose Caballero's throwing error let Walker score. The Yankees fell to 75-58. They have lost three of 10, sit four games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East, and lead Boston by two for the top American League wild card heading into a four-game series with the Red Sox.

How Christian Walker beat Gerrit Cole

Three hits, two runs, two RBIs, a homer, and a double. Search traffic writes itself: Walker homer, Astros vs Yankees score, Cole loss. Houston already had a Yankee Stadium chapter this week in the Bellinger Yankees-Astros recap. Thursday flipped the script. Walker, in year two of a three-year Astros deal, is the middle-of-the-order bat New York could not bury. The Yankees announced no change to Friday's plan. Cam Schlittler (11-6, 2.16) starts against Boston's Patrick Sandoval. Houston sends Hunter Brown (3-3, 3.51) to Citi Field.

The Astros also said former pitching coach Brent Strom will rejoin the club as a pitching consultant Friday, the AP wrote. That is a sidebar. The box score is Walker, Pena, and a 5-1 series win in the Bronx.

Walker homer Astros Yankees FAQ

What was the Astros vs Yankees score? Houston won 5-1 and took two of three at Yankee Stadium.

Did Christian Walker homer? Yes. His 24th, a two-run shot off Gerrit Cole in the sixth.

Who else went deep? Jeremy Pena hit his 16th homer in the seventh off Yerry de los Santos.