HOUSTON — Jose Altuve got the Yankees again.
The Yankees finished off the first half of the season with a disastrous 8-7 loss at Minute Maid Park, as Domingo German and Chad Green blew a five-run lead in the ninth, with Altuve finishing it with a game-winning three-run homer — while Aroldis Chapman sat in the bullpen.
The Astros ripped off Altuve’s jersey after he crossed the plate — a day after Aaron Judge mimicked Altuve’s move of telling his teammates to not touch his jersey following his walk-off homer that ended the 2019 ALCS against the Yankees.
As painful as that memory is for the Yankees, which led to speculation Altuve was wearing a buzzer that would signal what type of pitch was coming, this one has more of an impact on 2021, especially since the Yankees were close to finishing the first half with a sweep of first-place Houston.
“It’s another gut-punch,’’ Aaron Boone said of the loss in the last game before the All-Star break. “We’ve had a number of those here in the first half. We’ve gotten off the mat each and every time. We’ve got to do it again and understand what’s at stake.”
Boone already pointed to Thursday, when the Yankees open the second half with a four-game series against the first-place Red Sox in The Bronx that could determine whether they have a shot to get back into the AL East race.
“That’s a huge series,’’ Boone said. “It’s in our hands. … I’ve said a handful of times how much some losses have stung. To not finish it off there is difficult. As well as we played this week, we’ve got to rally from adversity.”
They’ve had plenty of it this season, but had hoped to have put some of it behind them by rebounding after their last ugly defeat last Sunday, when Chapman blew a game against the Mets and the Yankees responded by winning five of six.
“We were three outs away from a really good road trip,’’ Green said. “This leaves a sour taste in our mouths for three days. Up five runs in the ninth, you win that 99 percent of the time. We have to reset and get ready for Thursday.”
German allowed the first two batters of the ninth to reach and Green gave up a two-run double to Chas McCormick to make it 7-4.
Abraham Toro followed with a shot to right that Judge couldn’t chase down for an RBI double to cut the Yankees’ lead to two runs.
After a visit from pitching coach Matt Blake, pinch-hitter Jason Castro singled to center, moving Toro to third.
Green got Martin Maldonado on a soft liner to short for the first out.
Altuve then slammed a homer to left.
“I know he tries to be aggressive,’’ Green said of Altuve, who also took Green deep in The Bronx in May. “I tried to use that to my advantage. He’s a good hitter and has gotten me a few times. He put a good swing on it.”
“Let them celebrate,’’ Houston manager Dusty Baker said. “Let them party. Jose Altuve beat them in New York and beat them today.”
The Yankees lost despite walking 14 times in the game.
They were up 4-2 and got six strong innings from Jameson Taillon before German entered in the seventh and cruised through two innings.
Gary Sanchez hit a three-run homer in the top of the eighth to make it 7-2 and seemingly put the Yankees in a position to finish off the game.
Instead, they’ll spend the next few days mulling over this one, sitting eight games back of first-place Boston in the AL East.
“I don’t think we look at being eight games back,’’ Green said. “If you look too much into the future at who’s ahead of you or behind you, it’s exhausting.”