Without Mark Teixeira or Jacoby Ellsbury in the lineup Wednesday afternoon, the Yankees’ offense continued its downward spiral, dropping its fifth game in seven days with a loss to the Houston Astros, 6-2, at Yankee Stadium.
The team managed to save face a bit better than the night before, when they were embarrassed, 15-1, in a game in which an infielder, Brendan Ryan, was called upon to pitch the final two innings. But after winning the first game of the series, 1-0, the Yankees’ offense managed only nine hits across the next 18 innings, and they head to Atlanta after a day off on Thursday looking offensively adrift.