It’s been said that the Major League Baseball season does not begin in earnest until the calendar hits Memorial Day, in which case the Yankees picked the ideal opponent to stand against toe-to-toe.
The Houston Astros and their exceptional pitching kept the Yankees a game away from the World Series last season. On Monday, as the Astros romped to a 5-1 win at Yankee Stadium, it appeared as though nothing had changed.
For all the clout in the Yankees’ lineup — so loaded, one through nine, that otherwise certified big-league hitters have to be stashed in Class AAA, like a bin of quality toys in the attic — it can be neutralized.