Astros finished off series win over Yankees. Three players had contributions that stood out

NEW YORK - With a clean all-around showing, the Houston Astros claimed a series at Yankee Stadium on Thursday. Four pitchers combined to allow five hits. Their lineup scratched out three runs against Gerrit Cole and two more against relievers. After a horrid homestand and a front-office shakeup , they took two of three against the Yankees and maintained a one-game division lead.

No city knows better the importance of a full cast, but here were three key players in a 5-1 win Thursday :

Walker entered Thursday in a 6-for-50 funk, with one home run in August. The first baseman said that he worked on a swing adjustment pregame to free up his hands.

"The feel the last few days hasn't been there," Walker said. "I felt stuck, like it was hard to get inside of sinkers. So pregame today just tried to get out of my own way and get free, just set up the machine and let the hands work, try not to get too clunky, keep my body out of the way."

Cole is no hitter's idea of a favorable matchup. The right-hander wields one of the sport's best fastballs, averaging 96.8 mph and holding hitters to a .185 average against it entering Thursday. Still, Walker said, that left him little choice but to rely on his reactions.

"Not a lot of time to think and work through mechanics," Walker said. "Just trust what I'm seeing, try to be on time and find the barrel."

In his first at-bat, Cole led with a 96.6 mph fastball. Walker shot it to right field for a single at 107.5 mph off the bat. In his second, Walker rolled over a slider for a ground out. He came up again in the sixth.

The Astros clung to a 1-0 lead at that point. Cole had worked his first five innings on 54 pitches. He got two outs in the sixth before Daulton Varsho staged a pivotal plate appearance. Cole got ahead 0-2 on Varsho, who worked a seven-pitch walk to extend the inning. Houston manager Joe Espada deemed it "the at-bat of the game." Walker agreed.

It brought up Walker, who took a fastball for ball one, then saw a curveball in the zone. Cole began the day throwing his curveball just 10.9% of the time to right-handed hitters this season, but he did so 34% of the time to Astros righties in this outing. Walker sent the pitch 369 feet to right-center field, where it just cleared the wall.

"That one was a reaction," Walker said. "I hit the first fastball (in the first at-bat) the other way. Second at-bat, he went with different shapes.

"He doesn't stray away from his fastball - it's one of the best in the game. I knew it was coming again, a matter of time. But just tried to stay in the moment and trust what I was feeling. That curveball just popped out of his hand, I saw it early and luckily I put a good swing on it."

Statcast deemed his 24th home run of the season a homer in one of 30 major-league ballparks. Here, it proved the game's decisive swing.

For an embattled Astros bullpen , Blubaugh has been invaluable as a multi-innings option. No pitcher in the majors had logged more relief innings than Blubaugh this season entering Thursday. Across his last 45 appearances, the right-hander had a 2.38 ERA.

Blubaugh's ability to cover multiple innings is one reason he has rarely appeared late in games in high-leverage situations. His outing Thursday presented a case for why that could change down the stretch.

The Astros took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. Left-hander Steven Okert recorded three outs in the sixth, allowing some loud contact. Lefty Bennett Sousa had allowed four runs in a decisive seventh inning Wednesday . The Yankees lineup featured seven left-handed hitters Thursday.

Blubaugh began the day holding left-handed hitters to a .179 average and a .585 OPS. He entered the seventh inning to face the bottom three spots in New York's order. Jazz Chisholm Jr. swung through a 97.8 mph fastball for a strikeout. Austin Wells whiffed at a 97.2 mph fastball for another.

José Caballero lined a single, but Blubaugh induced a pop-up from leadoff hitter Trent Grisham . Bryan Abreu warmed during the top of the eighth. But after the Astros added a run, Blubaugh returned for a second inning of work, with the 2-3-4 spots in the Yankees order due up.

"I think definitely the situation, the atmosphere, how the game went, how the series was sitting, I think that all had a little influence on how it went tonight," Blubaugh said. "But it was a lot of fun, for sure."

Blubaugh retired the side in order in the eighth. He struck out Luis García Jr., who was 7-for-12 with five RBIs in the series' first two games, chasing a 3-2 changeup. He touched 98.8 mph to Cody Bellinger , who lined out on a full-count fastball. All six hitters Blubaugh retired were left-handed.

"He was throwing that first-pitch pitch strike, off-speed pitches, setting up a good fastball all the way up to 99 (mph)," Espada said. "That was pretty impressive. We're looking for guys that can pitch some leverage innings, and I think he's showed that he can do that."

Blubaugh made his 51st outing of the season. He entered just seven of the previous 50 in the seventh or later with the Astros tied or leading by four or fewer runs.

"I wouldn't say I have a preference on what part of the game," Blubaugh said. "Honestly I just like having the ball in my hands. Whatever gets the 'W' at the end of the game, that's all I'm really looking for."

Peña missed two games on the last homestand after being hit on the right hand by a 100 mph pitch. It was not a comfortable sight for Houston, then, when the shortstop took a 96 mph fastball from Cole to his left hand in his second plate appearance.

Peña was checked by a trainer but remained in the game. His speed immediately came into play. Two batters later, Isaac Paredes fought an 0-2 fastball into the right-field corner. Peña, who was moving on the pitch, scored from first base for the game's first run.

Cole exited after six innings. Yerry De Los Santos drew the seventh for the Yankees. The right-hander entered holding right-handed batters to a .194 average against his sinker this season. No righty had homered against the pitch in 42 plate appearances.

In a 1-1 count, De Los Santos bore a 95.1 sinker over the inside corner. Peña turned on it, his compact swing producing a 382-foot home run to left field.

It was Peña's second home run of the series. He had one in his prior 16 games, a stretch over which he hit .138. Houston's offensive dip in that span dovetailed with the struggles of its sparkplug. Few things feel more crucial to its playoff hopes than a resurgence from Peña over the season's final month.

"We're getting there," Peña said Thursday night. "I feel like there's definitely stuff I've learned and I can use it as a plus. It's 30 games left and it's time to finish strong."

Peña went for X-rays on his left hand after the game, which "came back clean," he said. It was a positive punctuation for the Astros to a series in which they needed to perform.

"It's huge," Peña said. "Every game means so much to us, and we played great baseball here."