For Yankees, the answer is blowin' in the wind

HOUSTON -- Playing with the roof open at Minute Maid Park happens at about the same frequency as a lunar eclipse. But on Thursday, for ALCS Game 2, you could see the stars at night, shining bright, deep in the heart of Texas.

Is that the reason why the Yankees dropped a second straight game to the Astros, this time by the score of 3-2? Depends on whom you ask.

Subtract the wind whipping from rightfield to left, and it’s very possible that Houston’s Kyle Tucker doesn’t get his glove on Aaron Judge’s long fly ball, pulling back a potential go-ahead two-run homer from the top edge of the wall in the eighth inning.

Judge, who hit 62 of them this season, wasn’t convinced. He carried his bat with him all the way to first base as he watched the ball disappear in Tucker’s mitt.

“The way the wind was playing, blowing pretty hard out to leftfield, I kind of hit it to the wrong part of the park, that’s for sure,” Judge said. “I was out there for eight innings on defense so I felt that wind kind of howling, so the minute I hit it, I knew kind of what the result would be.”

The rest of the Yankees were hoping Judge, the American League’s newly minted homer king, was mistaken.

“Anybody know how hard it was hit?” asked Kyle Higashioka, surrounded by teammates packing up for the return trip home to New York. When he was told 106 mph, the catcher replied, “That’s pretty hard. I was kind of amazed it didn’t go out.”

In case you hadn’t noticed, things don’t break the Yankees’ way at Minute Maid Park, including the wind gusts. But at an estimated 345 feet, according to Statcast, there’s only one building in the majors that wouldn’t have held Judge’s drive — Yankee Stadium.

Of course, the Astros didn’t have that problem. When Alex Bregman teed up a 1-and-2 fastball from Luis Severino in the third inning, the Yankees’ starter was considerate enough to throw it to the inside edge of the plate, allowing Bregman to yank the four-seamer into the Crawford Boxes in leftfield.

That three-run blast certainly looked like a no-doubter, reaching the train trestle, but Higashioka didn’t think it was that terrible a pitch. Severino felt the Yankees were victimized by a couple of bad breaks.

“[Bregman] hit it at 91 mph, that’s the only thing I have to say,” Severino said. “Judge hit it at 106 and it didn’t go out. So they got lucky.”

Obviously, Severino was frustrated, but “lucky”? That was taking it too far. The Astros have won seven of nine games against the Yankees this season. And let’s not forget that Houston has bounced them from the playoffs three times since 2015, including twice in the ALCS.

Minute Maid Park is the place where the Yankees’ dreams go to die in October. But now, with Houston holding a 2-0 lead as the ALCS switches to the Bronx, the Astros can stomp out this playoff run in the Yankees’ own backyard.

As for luck, the Yankees scored their two runs Thursday thanks to Framber Valdez’s comical attempt to first scoop Giancarlo Stanton’s comebacker and then make the mistake of trying to throw him out from his backside. Valdez’s double error proved costly when Anthony Rizzo drove in a run with a grounder to first base and the other scored on Gleyber Torres’ infield single.

Otherwise, Valdez was brilliant, striking out nine without a walk over seven innings. He also had a career-best 16 swings-and-misses on his curveball, with the Astros’ entire pitching staff leaving the Yankees flailing at their off-speed pitches

But that sloppy gift from Valdez actually was what the Yankees need to do more of going forward — put the ball in play. And speaking of wind, they struck out 13 times Thursday after 17 Ks the previous night, so 30 strikeouts in the span of 18 innings isn’t going to get it done.

How appropriate that Astros closer Ryan Pressly struck out the side in the ninth and the game ended when pinch hitter Matt Carpenter couldn’t check his swing with the tying run at first base.

Carpenter disagreed with the call, naturally. But if the Yankees don’t go deep, they don’t score, and that’s not a winning formula now that the Astros have outhomered them 4-2 through the first two games.

“I think we’ve got to shorten up a little bit, try to put the ball in play,” Stanton said. “You never know what can happen if you put the ball in play. We’ve been in both of these games — right there, even swinging with those numbers.”

That’s what made this two-day stay in Houston doubly frustrating for the Yankees. They were outscored 7-4, and if not for three two-strike pitches that left the yard, maybe we’re talking about a different series heading back to New York.

A couple of more feet on Judge’s liner. Severino throwing that fastball a smidge higher.

But it’s always something with the Astros at Minute Maid Park, a place the Yankees couldn’t wait to leave Thursday night and now desperately hope to return to.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.