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Brett Gardner stole second base after walking in the first inning and eventually scored the Yankees' first run on a bloop hit.
The Houston Astros arrived in the Bronx on Monday with the worst record in the American League, losers of four straight games and playing in a manner befitting a $26 million payroll.
But a funny thing happened that night. Playing their first game at Yankee Stadium as an A.L. team, the Astros trounced the Yankees, 9-1, looking far better against a team with a payroll more than eight times as big.
Flukes happen in professional sports, particularly in baseball, in which teams play 162 games over six months. One strange game could be dismissed as a statistical anomaly. But for the Yankees, losing a second would have been unthinkable. So they took the field Tuesday night under pressure to wipe away the sting of Monday's loss and restore a semblance of order.
It was not artful, but the Yankees performed their duty, beating the Astros, 7-4, and breathing a sigh of relief that they had not dropped two in a row to a team that could wind up with the worst record in baseball.
Still, the Yankees must win the series finale Wednesday to avoid losing a series to a team with a winning percentage under .300. The Astros fell to 8-19 and have dropped 13 of their last 17 games.
"That's not the best team, but it's baseball and sometimes you lose," said Eduardo Nunez, who had three hits Tuesday, including two doubles. "It was important to win this game. We have to win every game, that is in our mind."
The Yankees improved to 16-10 as starter Hiroki Kuroda overcame a shaky start and a slew of base runners to pitch seven scoreless innings and boost his record to 4-1 with a 2.25 earned run average.
Once again Kuroda had difficulty mastering some pitches and had to tinker and experiment to make his way through the game. Mechanical issues with his windup contributed to putting runners on third base in each of the first three innings until the pitching coach Larry Rothschild suggested he abandon the windup all together.
"That is something that I actually don't like doing," Kuroda said through his interpreter, "but I followed his suggestions and it worked out well."
The Astros finally scored when Chris Carter hit a two-run homer off Dave Robertson in the eighth. The Yankees came back with three in the bottom of the inning, the first coming on Lyle Overbay's fourth home run, and took a 7-2 lead.
In the ninth Shawn Kelley gave up two runs on Jose Altuve's double, prompting Manager Joe Girardi to call upon Mariano Rivera, who got the final out for his 10th save in 10 opportunities, and the Yankees closed out April with a respectable 16-10 mark.
Players such as Overbay and Travis Hafner, who had three hits and three runs batted in, have played significant roles, along with Vernon Wells and, of course, Robinson Cano.
In the absence of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira, the Yankees have held firm and pleased their manager. "They have done a very good job for us," Girardi said. "It hasn't always been pretty. But our guys have come up with clutch hits when we needed them and our pitchers have done a pretty good job."
The coaches have contributed, as well. It was Rothschild's suggestion, after all, that may have prevented Kuroda from enduring the same meltdown that Andy Pettitte experienced on Monday, and it was the hitting instructor Kevin Long who noticed that Nunez was standing too upright at the plate, and got him to spread his legs to create more power.
Even against a team like the lowly Astros, sometimes it is necessary to find alternative paths to victory. The Yankees had just come off a four-game sweep of the Blue Jays, and they felt it was important to maintain their upward trajectory, especially against a struggling team.
"I think it's important, especially after the weekend we had," Girardi said. "You want to keep the momentum going, finish the month off well. You want to keep playing good baseball. I thought it was important."
INSIDE PITCH
Kevin Youkilis was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a lumbar spine strain. After Youkilis said on Saturday that he felt fine and then reinjured his back, Joe Girardi was asked if he might ask him twice the next time. "I might ask him six more times," Girardi said. ... Mark Teixeira, who is recovering from a strained right wrist, has not started hitting balls off a tee yet, Girardi said. ... Brennan Boesch said he had left his agent, Scott Boras, and returned to his old agent, Brodie Van Wagenen of Creative Artists.
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