Yankees overcome comedy of errors, pull out 10-inning win over Astros | Rapid reaction

Yankees rally for two in ninth to tie, then win it in 10th inning.

NEW YORK — The Bad News Bears invaded the Bronx on Tuesday night.

If you’re too young to remember that wonderful 1976 baseball movie of the Walter Matthau-coached Little League team that initially was as terrible as it gets … that was the Yankees in the field in the middle game of this week’s big series against the reigning World Series champs.

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The Yankees were laughably bad in racking up a season-high five errors.

They probably deserved to lose.

Just in time, their offensive firepower saved the night and the Yankees pulled out a 6-5, 10-inning win over the Houston Astros.

After tying the game in the ninth on a two-run homer by Brett Gardner, his second of the night, and the Yankees won it in 10 on a walk-off hit by Gleyber Torres.

“We kind of played a rough game, but thank goodness we stayed in it,” Gardner told WFAN during a post-game radio interview.

The Yankees’ winning rally began with a two-out double into the left-field corner by Miguel Andujar off Astros righty Brad Peacock, then Torres followed with a game-winning line single to right.

The big hits by the rookies made up for their bad night in the field, as the rookies combined for three of the five errors.

“Teams don’t make win when you make five errors,” Yankees starter CC Sabathia said. “The way this team bounced back to put some clutch hits together, it just shows you a lot about this team.”

Luckily for the Yankees, only two of their errors led to runs, but bad throws by Andujar and Sabathia in the Astros fifth heavily contributed to a two-run uprising that stretch their lead to 5-2.

The Yankees’ game-tying rally began with Miguel Andujar working a leadoff walk off Astros reliever Chris Devenski. After Torres struck out, Gardner hit a high fly to right that just had enough to carry over the right-field wall to make it a 5-5 game.

Torres was sloppy for the second day in a row, as the rookie second baseman had a throwing error in the first inning and booted a seventh-inning grounder that should have been an inning-ending double play.

Catcher Gary Sanchez also had a throwing error on a pickoff attempt to second on a one-hop throw that ended up in center field.

Later, Sanchez threw another ball into center on a ninth-inning steal by Alex Bregman, but there was no advance to third and thus no sixth error for the Yanks.

Sanchez, however, made up for his miscues in the Astros 10th with a two-out throw to third that gunned down Tony Kemp, who was trying to advance on a pitch to the backstop by Yankees reliever.

The Yankees fielding was a big problem early in the season, as they committed 25 errors in their first 27 games, but they got their act together and made just six errors in their next 24 (counting the suspended game) before logging six over the last two days.

Torres’ errors were his sixth and seventh in 32 games. He also had a throwing error and was picked off second base on Monday when the Yankees’ lost the series opener 5-1 in a Memorial Day matinee.

The ugliest miscue of the night was Sabathia’s.

After Andujar pulled Bird off the bag on Alex Bregman’s leadoff bouncer to third, Jose Altuve hit a comebacker that should have been turned into a double play.

Instead, the Astros wound up with runners on second and third with nobody out when Sabathia bobbled the grounder, then picked up the ball and fired a fastball to first that was about 15 feet over Bird’s head.

“I think you could not say there was not necessarily more errors, but just plays we couldn’t make that when you’re playing a really good team, a world championship team like the Astros,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s tough to overcome that. So for awhile there it was a little bit frustrating.

“These guys just continue to peck away when it doesn’t look great and I’m just really proud of the continued fight that I always see in them.”

NOTABLE

— Didi Gregorius had his second consecutive two-hit game after entering the series in a 4-for-67 slump. 

— Sanchez was 0 for 5 and now is hitless in his last 13 at-bats. His season average is down to .208.

— Giancarlo Stanton, who was 1 for 5, snapped an 0-for-19 skid with a ninth-inning infield single. He was booed loudly by Yankees fans after his inning-ending comebacker in the seventh.

— Astros starter Charlie Morton was in line for a win that would have improved his record to 8-0 until the Yankees’ tied the game in the ninth. The righty turned in a three-run, six-inning outing that included 10 strikeouts, but he allowed leadoff homer in the first to Gardner and fifth to Judge.

— The Yanks lead the season series 4-2 with one game remaining, Wednesday’s series finale.

LOOKING AHEAD

Wednesday: Houston Astros at Yankees, 6:35 p.m., YES/ESPN. LHP Dallas Keuchel (3-6, 3.39) vs. RHP Luis Severino (7-1, 2.28).

Thursday: Yankees at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 p.m., YES. RHP Sonny Gray (3-4, 5.98) vs. TBA.

Friday: Yankees at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 p.m., YES. RHP Masahiro Tanaka (6-2, 4.62) vs. TBA.

Saturday: Yankees at Baltimore Orioles, 4:05 p.m., YES. RHP Domingo German (0-3, 5.45) vs. TBA.

Sunday: Yankees at Baltimore Orioles, 1:05 p.m., YES. LHP CC Sabathia (2-2, 3.73) vs. TBA.

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.