NEW YORK — No Major League team has ever been held hitless in consecutive games, though as the Yankees sleepwalked through their first six innings on Sunday afternoon, that factoid was worth a deep dive into the record book. The vibe changed in a hurry — not only would they get a hit, they were coming all the way back.
Giancarlo Stanton visited Monument Park with a home run that shattered the no-hit bid and the shutout, DJ LeMahieu launched a game-tying two-run homer and Aaron Judge hit a walk-off three-run blast in the 10th, powering the Yankees to a 6-3 victory at Yankee Stadium.
New York and Houston split the four-game series, which may have been a postseason preview. The Yankees have celebrated a Major League-leading 10 walk-off victories. Sunday marked their 22nd comeback win of the year, which also leads the Majors.
The Yankees appeared set to walk the game off in the ninth, when Gleyber Torres walked, stole second and advanced to third on catcher Jason Castro’s throwing error. In a freak injury, however, Torres was tagged out after appearing to roll his right ankle while scrambling back to third base following Aaron Hicks’ strikeout.
After Cristian Javier and two relievers hurled a combined no-hitter on Saturday, Jose Urquidy kept the Yanks hitless until Stanton’s 17th homer with one out in the seventh, which snapped an 0-for-52 string for Bombers hitters dating to Friday. LeMahieu reached the left-field seats in the eighth, swatting a Phil Maton slider for his seventh homer of the year.
Nestor Cortes started for the Yankees and permitted three runs over five innings, including Jose Altuve’s leadoff home run on the first pitch of the afternoon. Mauricio Dubon added a two-run single in the fourth inning off Cortes, who scattered two hits and walked a pair while striking out seven.
No club has ever been no-hit — or thrown a no-hitter — in consecutive games, though the 1917 St. Louis Browns had no-hitters pitched on consecutive days. St. Louis hurlers Ernie Koob and Bob Groom held the White Sox hitless on May 5 and 6, 1917, with Groom’s no-hitter coming in the back end of a doubleheader.