On Thursday, the Houston Astros and New York Yankees were looking at a doubleheader coming straight out of the All-Star break. In what was a tightly contested day game, the Astros bested the Yankees 3-2. They earned the win via a pinch hit walk-off single from J.J. Matijevic in the bottom of the 9th.

The growing rivalry between the Astros and Yankees has seen a number of close finishes in recent seasons. Houston defeated the Bronx Bombers in the 2017 and 2019 American League Championship Series. Both of those series' were tightly contested, going seven and six games respectively. But it is Houston that generally has won the closest of games. Well, the 2022 Astros are back at it.

The Astros already had the best win percentage in baseball in close games this season. They improved upon that Thursday afternoon.

With the win, Houston improved to 60-32 and are quietly only 3.5 games behind New York for home field advantage (three back in the loss column). All of the talk this season has been about Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes and the Yankees. But the Astros can match them player for player.

Houston has an AL MVP candidate themself in Yordan Alvarez. They have a deep, talented lineup. The Astros also have a dominant starting rotation, led by future Hall of Fame starter Justin Verlander. On Thursday, Cristian Javier took the mound. He pitched well, but New York finally got a hit off of him. Last time he faced the Yankees, he struck out a career-high 13 batters in a combined no-hitter.

The Astros are likely the last team New York will want to see this postseason.