Yankees rally past Astros again as Oswaldo Cabrera gets four hits, three RBIs

HOUSTON — Carlos Rodon walked the pitching version of a tightrope Friday night.

There was hard contact — a lot of it — in his 4 1⁄3 -inning outing, but also this: In his laborious 87-pitch outing, there was a handful of big pitches when the lefthander needed them.

So how to evaluate Rodon’s 2024 debut, especially considering the disaster that was his 2023? Good enough. He never allowed the big hit, somehow managing to give up only one run even though the Astros blistered plenty of baseballs.

That kept the Yankees in the game, and they eventually pulled away for a 7-1 victory in front of 41,583 at Minute Maid Park.

“I’m never going to be mad when our team wins,” Rodon said. “I’m happy we came out with a win. I know there’s room for improvement throughout the week leading into the next start. But I’ll walk away today happy that the Yankees won, for sure.”

In large part because of one surprising bat and one that general manager Brian Cashman called “transformational” in the offseason (and Juan Soto has been just that two games in).

The one from the surprising category belonged to Oswaldo Cabrera, a one-time top organizational infield prospect who last year fell steeply from that status because of an inability to consistently hit big-league pitching.

The switch hitter seems to have found an approach that works. After picking up two hits Thursday, he banged out a career-high four hits Friday. His RBI single in the seventh tied the score at 1-1 and his two-run single in the eighth — which came after back-to-back Little League-caliber throwing errors by shortstop Jeremy Pena and reliever Parker Mushinski — made it 6-1.

“When you’re not doing things in the way that you want, you think too much, and I think that’s what happened last year with me,” Cabrera said.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a 419-foot homer to left-center in the ninth.

Soto, who earned the co-save alongside closer Clay Holmes in Thursday’s season-opening 5-4 victory when he threw out the potential tying run at the plate for the second out in the ninth, again showed his transformative skills on offense and defense.

He worked a bases-loaded walk in the seventh to put the Yankees ahead 2-1, part of a 3-for-4 night. He is 4-for-7 with three walks and a 1.414 OPS.

Soto, who was checked on his way back to the field before the top of the fourth by Aaron Boone and trainer Alfonso Malaguti because he rolled his left ankle when rounding third base on Aaron Judge’s sky-high pop-up to end the third, obviously was fine. In addition to his offensive contributions, Soto made a sliding catch in the seventh with two on and one out and the game still in doubt.

“That guy’s pretty incredible,” Rodon said. “You’d think we signed him for his defense at this point. Obviously, some big hits and some big walks and then some great defensive plays. That guy’s been spectacular.”

One down note to the evening was second baseman Gleyber Torres leaving the game in the seventh after getting hit on his right hand by a 93-mph fastball. X-rays were negative, and while Torres said his “hope” is that he’ll be able to play Saturday night, that’s highly unlikely. Expect one of the club’s reserve utility players — Jahmai Jones, who took over for Torres, or the just-acquired Jon Berti — to be in the starting lineup Saturday night instead.

The Yankees, who wore down Astros starter Framber Valdez on Thursday, had no such luck against Friday’s starter, Cristian Javier. They all but popped champagne bottles in the dugout upon Javier’s removal after six scoreless innings in which the Yankees managed four hits — two by Soto and two by Cabrera.

Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells drew one-out walks against Taylor Scott in the seventh. Cabrera’s single made it 1-1 and Soto’s bases-loaded walk against Rafael Montero gave the Yankees the lead.

“Everyone kind of grinded,” Boone said. “Carlos held the line, I thought his stuff was really good . . . kind of gritty at-bats. Another good night.”