The New York Yankees entered the sixth inning desperately needing a spark. Suddenly, All-Star catcher Gary Sanchez delivered it and got Yankee Stadium rocking in the process.
Sanchez stepped into the batter’s box facing a five-run deficit and a cold stretch at the plate he couldn’t seem to snap. One bad pitch from Houston Astros reliever Josh James gave him the spark as Sanchez unloaded on the baseball for a two-run blast to make it a 6-3 game.
Sanchez came into Thursday in a 2-for-21 slump with 10 strikeouts this postseason. Things only got worse for him in the first inning when he struck out with the bases loaded in a critical situation.
Perhaps this will not only be the spark that wakes up Sanchez’s powerful bat, but gets the entire Yankees’ lineup to tap into the form that helped it steal Game 1 in Houston.