HOUSTON — Even in Texas, Devin Williams could not escape the wrath of Yankees fans.
The embattled reliever left the mound to a chorus of boos after being pulled by Aaron Boone on Wednesday night, as he walked in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of what became an 8-7 loss for the Bombers. An ejection also accompanied Williams’ exit, as he told erratic home plate umpire Brian Walsh that he missed four calls on his way to the showers.
“He had a right to be frustrated,” catcher Austin Wells said after the first ejection of Williams’ career.
Boone was also tossed by Walsh after calling on Camilo Doval, who proceeded to allow an RBI single to Jeremy Peña before balking in a run. A wild pitch gave Houston another run before the Yankees’ full-blown meltdown came to an end.
The inning also saw crew chief Adrian Johnson shoo unhappy pitching coach Matt Blake back into the Yankees’ dugout. Meanwhile, Wells and bench coach Brad Ausmus argued that an attempt to fix an issue with Doval’s Spanish language PitchCom should not have counted as a disengagement from the mound following the pitcher’s balk.
“Camilo doesn’t speak great English,” Wells explained. “We only have one PitchCom that really works with just Spanish. I don’t know if [the umpires] didn’t care or what the deal was, but he said he gave us a chance to fix it the first time that we went out there, and then decided that it was a disengagement. We were trying to explain to him our case, and he said that we were lucky we didn’t get a violation and that it was just a step off.”
More commotion ensued in the ninth, as Cody Bellinger launched a three-run homer to cut the Yankees’ deficit to one. However, Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out looking on an outside pitch to end the game.
As the Astros celebrated their victory, Chisholm unloaded on Walsh.
The second baseman declined to talk to a group of reporters afterward, but Chisholm made his opinion known on social media, retweeting a post from Knicks star Josh Hart that called for Walsh’s suspension. Chisholm also replied “SMD” to a fan that criticized his game-ending outburst.
“It’s just ridiculous to have the inning that I had,” Williams said, “and then Jazz got the bat taken out of his hands on a pitch that was a lot further from the zone than the pitches I was making.”
Of course it ends on a ball called a strike pic.twitter.com/gGcv0goPJJ
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) September 4, 2025
Williams had already reviewed his eighth inning by the time he spoke to reporters. While he said that he had an issue with four of Walsh’s calls, he only specified three: two missed strikes to Jesus Sánchez and one to Taylor Trammell.
Both batters walked.
“When you’re making good pitches, which I was, not getting those calls really changes the course of an at-bat,” said Williams, whose ERA inflated to 5.60 on the season.
While Williams had some legitimate gripes, he totaled three walks in the inning and acknowledged that he put his own “back against the wall right away” by throwing a fastball over the middle of the plate to Carlos Correa, who led the eighth off with a double. Williams has done that plenty throughout his first season in pinstripes, hence the jeers from well-traveled Yankees fans.
Wells, meanwhile, said “yes” when asked if he believed Walsh’s strike zone changed throughout the game. He also felt that the umps made a few calls against the Yankees in Monday’s 7-1 win.
“We go back, watch video, try to get better,” Wells said. “I hope that those guys are going to do the same.”
While Yankees players were quick to criticize Walsh and company, Boone tried to remain calm and avoided bashing the umpires while cameras and recorders were on him.
“I thought it was maybe a little inconsistent,” said the manager, still red in the face. “But this is more we had a lead and a couple chances to add on, and I thought the Astros put some really good at-bats together.
“They got the best of us tonight.”
As Boone alluded to, the Yankees got out to an early lead after Giancarlo Stanton crushed a solo home run to Daikin Park’s train tracks, which sit high above the Crawford Boxes in left field. Wells added his 20th homer of the season, a two-run jack that ended up in the Crawford Boxes in the fourth frame.
It wasn’t until the fifth that the Astros began their comeback, as they scored their first run off Will Warren after the rookie allowed a Yainer Diaz double, a Victor Caratini single and a Ramón Urías sac fly. The Yankees got the run back in the sixth after Ryan McMahon lined a sac fly, but Houston was far from finished.
The Astros got to Warren again in the sixth, as Peña ended the pitcher’s night after just 67 pitches with a leadoff homer.
“Fine. It is what it is. I don’t know what to say,” Warren said when asked how he felt after being yanked with such a low pitch count. However, Boone said Houston was consistently squaring the righty up toward the end of his outing.
With Fernando Cruz in, Yordan Alvarez then roped a double over the head of Stanton, who misplayed the ball by taking a step in.
“No one’s catching that ball,” Boone said, though it had an 80% catch probability.
Stanton’s limited defensive capabilities haven’t hurt the Yankees much since he returned to the outfield last month, but he also had a 73% catch probability on Diaz’s fifth-inning double, which led to a run.
With Alvarez on, Cruz then threw a wild pitch before a Jose Altuve grounder to McMahon cut the Yankees’ lead to one. McMahon had a play on Alvarez at the plate, but he opted for the safe out at first base.
The seventh also saw Luke Weaver surrender a game-tying single to Alvarez, who advanced to second on an errant Stanton throw to the plate.
All in all, it was a poor night for the Yankees’ bullpen, which permitted six runs. But with Walsh botching a few calls, the Yankees directed their frustrations at the officiating after the game.
“I felt like it was gifted to them,” Warren said. “It sucks.”
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