Yanks' bullpen buckles in 11th after Paxton hooked in 3rd

HOUSTON (AP) — The Yankees went to the bullpen early and kept a parade of relievers going to the mound — even CC Sabathia.

But New York's bullpen buckled in the 11th inning when Carlos Correa led off with a home run off J.A. Happ, the Yankees' ninth pitcher, to give the Houston Astros a 3-2 win Sunday that tied the AL Championship Series at one game apiece.

On a night when starter James Paxton lasted just 2 1/3 innings and 51 pitches, Yankees manager Aaron Boone treated the third inning like he would the sixth during the regular season.

"Just felt like we were covered as far as today with getting some length and having guys rested. Obviously going into an off day tomorrow we're just going to be aggressive," Boone said.

Paxton allowed Correa's RBI double in the second, escaped further trouble, then was replaced by Chad Green with one on and one out in the third.

"Thought he was struggling with his command," Boone said.

Green retired six straight batters, and Yankees went ahead 2-1 on Aaron Judge's two-run homer in the fourth off Justin Verlander.

Adam Ottavino came on with one out in the fifth and George Springer homered on his first pitch, a flat slider.

"He didn't miss it when I made the mistake," Ottavino said.

Tommy Kahnle pitched 2 1/3 hitless innings, Zack Britton worked around a one-out walk in the eighth and Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth around a two-out walk, a taxing inning that took 25 pitches.

"I think the sense was that some people were going to get extended, but I think the bullpen has been pretty prepared," Britton said. "We knew we were going to have to cover some innings, but I thought we pitched really well. It came down to making one more mistake than they did."

Sabathia made only the third relief appearance of his career when...

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