Yankees rip Astros to extend win streak to eight games

HOUSTON — Power, then patience.

On Saturday night, that was the winning formula for the Yankees.

Austin Wells hit their third home run of the game, a go-ahead shot to lead off the seventh inning, before they added insurance runs on a pair of bases-loaded walks to secure the Yankees’ eighth straight win, 8-3 over the Astros at Daikin Park.

Trent Grisham and José Caballero also went deep while Ryan Weathers became the latest starter to turn in a strong outing as the Yankees (18-9) matched their longest winning streak from last season.

Over the first two games of this series, the Yankees have racked up 20 runs on 25 hits, ganging up on the brutal pitching staff of the Astros (10-18).

With the game tied at 2 entering the seventh inning, the scuffling Wells finally delivered a big hit, homering off Kai-Wei Teng to put the Yankees ahead by a run.

They then mounted a rally to create more breathing room.

Caballero, who had a three-hit night, nearly thwarted it by making the second out when he was thrown out trying to steal third (with a lefty at the plate) for the second time in the game.

But Ben Rice followed with a single against lefty Bennett Sousa, and Aaron Judge came back from an 0-2 count to draw a nine-pitch walk to load the bases.

Cody Bellinger then fought back from a 1-2 count to walk and force in a run before Jazz Chisholm Jr. drew a five-pitch walk to score another run for the 5-2 lead.

Rice, who also had a three-hit night, came up just short of a grand slam in the eighth inning but settled for a sacrifice fly that made it 6-2.

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Wells later added a run-scoring single in the ninth — giving him two RBIs in the game after entering Saturday with two RBIs on the season — as he went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks.

The catcher now has more walks (15) than strikeouts (14) on the season.

Fresh off the paternity list, Weathers turned in a solid outing, giving up two runs over 5 ¹/₃ innings to continue the Yankees’ strong stretch of starting pitching.

Their rotation has now given up two or fewer runs in each of its past eight starts, allowing seven earned runs in 54 innings during that stretch.

After making his last start Sunday against the Royals, Weathers stayed back in New York for the birth of his first child, Paul David Weathers, on Wednesday.

The new dad was able to sneak in a bullpen session during the week before flying to Houston on Friday.

Weathers got off to a rocky start, as he gave up a leadoff double to Carlos Correa.

After Rice made a diving stop on a grounder to get the first out, the Astros took the lead on an RBI single down the third base line from Isaac Paredes.

But from there, Weathers retired the next 11 batters in order to get through the fourth inning.

Meanwhile, the Yankees tied the game in the top of the third, when Grisham went the other way for a solo home run into the Crawford Boxes off right-hander Mike Burrows.

It could have been a two-run shot, except Caballero had just gotten thrown out trying to steal third base after successfully swiping second.

But Caballero made up for it by homering in his next at-bat — going deep for the second time in as many nights — to put the Yankees ahead 2-1.

Yainer Diaz led off the fifth inning with a single, but Weathers soon erased him on a pickoff — the second straight night in which a Yankees pitcher picked off an Astro.

That helped ensure that a single one out later proved harmless, as Weathers eventually completed the inning with the 2-1 lead still intact.

That only lasted for another inning, though, as Correa led off the bottom of the sixth with a game-tying home run to left field — bringing Weathers to a knee on the mound as he watched it fly after throwing a sweeper that caught too much of the plate.

The Astros threatened for more, but after Fernando Cruz relieved Weathers and walked Jose Altuve on four pitches, he rebounded to strike out the next two batters and strand a pair of runners.