With the tying run on second base, Anthony Volpe at the plate and Juan Soto lurking in the on-deck circle, it sure seemed like the Yankees were about to rally for another win.
Not this time.
Instead, Josh Hader got Volpe swinging with Gleyber Torres stranded at second, and the Yankees saw their five-game winning streak snapped with a 4-3 loss to the Astros on Thursday in The Bronx.
It came after they had their chance in the eighth, as well.
Down by a pair of runs, they had Soto, Aaron Judge and Alex Verdugo coming up, with the suddenly hot-hitting Giancarlo Stanton behind them.
And though Judge followed Soto’s leadoff lineout to right with his third homer in five games to get the Yankees to within a run and then Verdugo walked, the Yankees couldn’t muster enough offense. Stanton struck out and Anthony Rizzo popped out.
So a nearly perfect homestand was spoiled.
Marcus Stroman was tagged for three runs in the first inning on a pair of monstrous home runs by Yordan Alvarez and Jon Singleton, and the Yankees never recovered.
After putting up 19 runs over the previous two games, the Yankees lineup was limited to four runs.
For Stroman, it was another shaky start, his second in his past three outings.
After issuing five walks apiece in his previous two starts, Stroman was hit harder Thursday, giving up a season-high nine hits.
And Houston right-hander Ronel Blanco held the Yankees down enough.
For the third straight game, the Astros got a solo homer in the top of the first.
After Kyle Tucker went deep in each of the first two games of the series, another lefty slugger, Alvarez, pummeled a Stroman offering 116.8 mph into the second deck in right to put the Astros up, 1-0.
Two batters later, Singleton crushed a two-run shot out to deep right, measured at 442 feet, to put the Yankees in an early 3-0 hole.
The Yankees looked ready to chip into the lead in the bottom of the inning, as Volpe singled to lead off and Soto walked.
But the sizzling Judge struck out, and Verdugo grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Houston loaded the bases against Stroman with one out in the second, and he responded by fanning Tucker and getting Alvarez to fly to left to keep it a three-run game.
Rizzo reached on a two-base error by center fielder Mauricio Dubon with one out in the bottom of the inning when Dubio flubbed a fly ball, but groundouts by Gleyber Torres and Austin Wells stranded Rizzo, as the Yankees went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position in the first two innings.
Stroman worked out of a jam in the third.
Jeremy Pena was on third with no one out when Stroman got Singleton on a strikeout, Alex Bregman on a shallow fly to right and Yainer Diaz on a comebacker.
Volpe got the Yankees going in the bottom half. Oswaldo Cabrera reached on a misplay by Blanco to start the inning, and Volpe followed by hitting one out to the short porch in right to make it 3-2.
A Pena RBI single up the middle scored Alvarez from second in the fifth to put Houston up, 4-2.
With two on and one out in the bottom of the inning, Judge hit a rocket grounder to third, which Bregman turned into a double play.
Ryan Pressly, who got off to a terrible start to the season after getting bumped from the closer role by Josh Hader but who has pitched better lately, came on in the eighth and gave up a laser lineout to right to Soto before Judge took him deep with a 473-foot homer to make it 4-3.
After Verdugo walked, Stanton struck out looking, his fourth whiff of the game, and lefty Hader came in to face Rizzo.
Rizzo popped out to short.
