Yankees’ defense falters at worst possible time

The New York Yankees entered Game 4 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros on Sunday night facing a serious uphill task. New York trailed Houston 3-0, a nearly insurmountable task. The Yankees’ offense showed up in a way it hadn’t in more than 10 playoff games. That was the good news. Unfortunately for New York, the defense faltered at the worst possible time.

The Yankees led the Astros 5-4 in the top of the seventh when Jeremy Peña came up with one out and one on. Peña, who had already homered in the game, hit a slow ground ball. A double play was possible but with Peña’s speed, not likely. Still, the worst-case scenario for New York seemed to be forcing José Altuve out at second base. But Gleyber Torres and Isiah Kiner-Falefa were not on the same page and with that, disaster struck.

The next hitter was Yordan Álvarez. And while the Yankees got the ground ball from Álvarez that they needed, it got through the infield. Altuve came around to score the tying run.

Alex Bregman came up next and kept the line moving, scoring Peña with an RBI single to put the Astros up 6-5.

Both Torres and Kiner-Falefa were heavily criticized following this miscue.

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[Photo Credit: TBS]