It looks like the Houston Astros took a page out of the New York Yankees’ book: speaking too soon with trash talk and having it almost immediately turn on them. Welcome to the club! We’re happy to hand over the presidency.

On Friday night, it felt as if the Astros were set to even the score against the Bombers. New York had no answer for Cristian Javier, who blanked them over six innings of work. The Yanks managed just four hits and a walk, while striking out six times.

At the very least, the offense worked Javier to 90 pitches, so manager Joe Espada pulled the right-hander in the seventh, calling on Tayler Scott to pick up where Javier left off. Sadly, that didn’t work out. Nor did two of Espada’s other three choices; Parker Mushinski stunk and made a hilarious error while Brandon Bielak got knocked around for one earned run on four hits in 1.2 innings.

The end result? A 7-1 Yankees victory and the Astros getting cold take’d about an hour later. When Javier was removed, the Astros’ Twitter account thought it’d be cute to take a shot at the Yankees in a 1-0 game with three innings remaining.

Lights out and sweet dreams? The Yankees got a second wind and lasted all night long. Boot, rally, more SoCo!

Yankees Twitter, Alex Verdugo absolutely own Astros during Saturday’s beatdown

And for once, some Yankees tomfoolery worked out in their favor. Earlier in the game, with the Astros leading 1-0 in the second inning, Alex Verdugo secured an inning-ending line drive that got Carlos Rodón out of trouble.

Verdugo turned to the Astros fans in the left field seats and made it look like he was going to gift them the ball. Instead, he playfully teased them, leaving the ball in plain sight in his glove as he trotted backwards towards the dugout. A little taunting never hurt anybody.

Yankees beat writers also pointed out that he was chirping with the fans in the Crawford Boxes. If you remember his days with the Red Sox, he did the same exact thing with Yankees fans in the left field seats at Yankee Stadium. The guy likes to have a good time and doesn’t shy away from trash talk.

The addition of Verdugo, as predicted in the offseason, has given the Yankees a bit more edge — fans were just unsure if it was going to propel them or backfire because this type of stuff has rarely worked in their favor since 2018.

We’re not ready to declare a complete turnaround in the Yankees’ energy or tenacity, but after two games in enemy territory, fans are boastful thanks to the results.