The crowd noise at Houston’s Minute Maid Park was deafening the entire night, but now it had reached another level. DJ LeMahieu — coming off an explosive first season with the Yankees in which he swatted a career-high 26 homers and drove in a career-best 102 runs — stepped into the batter’s box. The Astros had their closer, Roberto Osuna, on the mound, and stood just two outs away from the 2019 World Series.
This was the time, as everyone in the sea of orange knew. Towels by the thousands fluttered in the air. One of the American League’s most potent hitters was at the plate with a runner on first and a chance to either tie the game or continue the rally. The Yankees’ season would be on life support if he failed.
Osuna missed with a 95-mph cutter on his first pitch, then blew a 98-mph fastball past LeMahieu. The Yankees’ infielder caught up to the third pitch, another 98-mph fastball, fouling it off. Osuna threw a slider that missed the plate with his fourth pitch, bringing the count to 2-2. The right-hander, who had led the league with 38 saves, followed with two fastballs in the high 90s, a changeup and another fastball that registered 99 mph on the radar gun. LeMahieu continued to battle, fouling off each of those offerings. Osuna’s ninth pitch, another fastball, missed the strike zone. The count was full.
The expression on LeMahieu’s face was stoic and serene. It was almost as if he didn’t blink during the marathon at-bat, despite being in the center of a cauldron of noise and dealing with the pressure of trying to save the season.
Osuna had thrown everything he had at LeMahieu; this had already been an epic battle between two of the most talented players at their respective crafts. On the 10th pitch, Osuna went back to his cutter, and finally, LeMahieu was able to drive it.
LeMahieu got just enough of the baseball, sending it to right field and into the first row of seats, barely beyond the reach of Astros right fielder George Springer. Suddenly, the ballpark was quiet. Fans were no longer waving their orange rally towels. LeMahieu pumped his fist once as he rounded first base, but retained the stone-faced “the game is not over yet” expression he had during the long at-bat. The game was tied, 4-4, and the Yankees’ season, for now, was still intact.
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