HOUSTON — A large green scoreboard with white letters and numbers in left field was impossible to ignore for the Yankees on the field and in the dugout. And when the results from Baltimore, Toronto and Boston were posted the Yankees understood what their game against the Astros meant.
A victory would allow the Yankees to gain a game on the Orioles, Red Sox and Blue Jays in the AL East, give them a sweep of a very solid Astros club and after a day of rest send them into a weekend series against the bottom-feeding Rays with more opportunities to close the gap.