HOUSTON _ This one will sting.
Just how much is to be determined.
Carlos Correa's walk-off homer to rightfield on J.A. Happ's first pitch of the 11th inning gave the Houston Astros a 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series in front of 43,359 at Minute Maid Park on Sunday night.
The Astros tied the series at 1-1 in a game that lasted 4:49 and ended two minutes before midnight CT.
Midway through the game, the Yankees _ who stole home-field advantage from the Astros with their 7-0 victory in Game 1 on Saturday night _ found themselves with a lead against Justin Verlander and a fully rested bullpen prepared to preserve it.
The Yankees had an opportunity to go home with a two-games-to-none lead and a very real chance to close out the top-seeded Astros at a sure-to-be-earsplitting Stadium.
But Adam Ottavino, who replaced a dominant Chad Green, hung a first-pitch slider to George Springer that allowed the Astros to tie it in the fifth, and that's the way it stayed until the 11th.
Entering the 11th, the Yankees' bullpen had allowed one run, two hits and four walks in 7 2/3 innings, striking out 11.
The Yankees successfully drove up Verlander's pitch count but failed to capitalize against a suspect Houston bullpen, which allowed no runs, one hit and two walks in 4 1/3 innings, striking out five.
CC Sabathia started the 10th and retired Michael Brantley before righthander Jonathan Loaisiga was summoned. He walked Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman and was replaced by Happ, who struck out dangerous Yordan Alvarez and got Yuli Gurriel to fly to left.
But an inning later, Correa drove Happ's next pitch over the rightfield wall to end it. Correa also doubled home the first run of the game and made a heads-up defensive play to cut down the potential go-ahead run at the plate in the sixth.
Verlander, an American League Cy Young Award candidate along with teammate Gerrit Cole, again performed well, allowing two runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Aaron Judge's towering two-run homer to center in the fourth gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead before Springer's homer tied it.
James Paxton started for the Yankees, and it quickly became apparent that the lefthander didn't have it. He was pulled after allowing one run, four hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings and was replaced by Green, who struck out two in two scoreless, hitless innings.
The Astros gave Verlander a lead in the second. AL MVP candidate Alex Bregman led off by lining an 0-and-1 fastball off the top of the leftfield wall, Paxton walked Alvarez on five pitches and Gurriel's long flyout to right put Bregman on third. Correa then yanked a curveball down the leftfield line for an RBI double to make it 1-0, but Paxton struck out Robinson Chirinos and Jake Marisnick on curveballs to end the 21-pitch inning.
In the third, Paxton struck out Springer swinging at a cutter but allowed back-to-back singles by Brantley and Altuve. With Bregman coming up, Aaron Boone, who promised before the postseason to be aggressive with his bullpen, brought in Green. He retired Bregman on a liner to left and got Alvarez to pop to short.
The Yankees quickly grabbed the lead. DJ LeMahieu battled back from an 0-and-2 hole to draw a leadoff walk and Judge, who saw all sliders in his three-pitch at-bat in the first, jumped a slider and launched it 423 feet to center to make it 2-1.
After Springer homered off Ottavino, the Yankees nearly regained the lead in the sixth. LeMahieu led off with a single and Gleyber Torres singled with one out. With two outs, Brett Gardner hit a ground smash that banged off Altuve at second and trickled away. Third-base coach Phil Nevin waved LeMahieu around, but an alert Correa picked up the ball about 10 to 15 feet away from Altuve and delivered a strike to catcher Chirinos, who tagged out LeMahieu.
