Elmer Rodriguez had his best start as a big leaguer and the Yankees offense erupted late in their 9-3 win over the Astros on Wednesday night.

The Yankees outhit Houston 13-4 and were 5-for-15 with RISP.

The Rays won earlier in the evening, so the Yankees remain 3.5 games behind for the AL East while the Red Sox's loss puts them 2.5 games back for the top wild card spot.

Here are the takeaways...

-Rodriguez made his return to the Yankees on Wednesday and his defense betrayed him in the first. Trent Grisham misplayed a ball from Jose Altuve that would have been the third out; instead, Isaac Paredes scored from first base on the double.

Rodriguez settled in until the fourth when Daulton Varsho launched a solo shot to tie the game at 2-2. Despite that, Rodriguez pitched into the seventh before being pulled after walking Altuve to lead off the inning.

Paul Blackburn came in and allowed a hit and a walk, with Altuve coming around to score, but limited the damage by striking out the final two batters with the bases loaded.

Rodriguez tossed 88 pitches (57 strikes) across six-plus innings, allowing three runs on three hits and two walks while striking out six.

-A day after the bullpen stumbled, Wednesday was back to normal for the Yankees relievers. The combination of Blackburn, the newly recalled Michael Fulmer, and Tim Hill got the final nine outs without allowing a run.

-The Yankees offense would get that run back, snapping their streak of scoreless first innings when Ben Rice smashed a solo shot off of Peter Lambert to knot things at 1-1. After a throwing error by Christian Walker put runners on second and third with one out, George Lombard Jr. had a productive out, pushing Luis Garcia Jr. across with a ground out to first base.

Grisham pushed across the team's third run on a double play ball, but the offense finally broke out in the seventh. They scored four runs, with Cody Bellinger coming through with a two-run double to give New York the lead. Spencer Jones drove in a run with a single and Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s double rounded out the scoring.

Garcia put an exclamation point on the scoring with a two-run shot in the eighth. The first baseman went 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored.

Game MVP: Cody Bellinger

Bellinger's two-run double gave the Yankees the lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Here are the takeaways...

Game MVP: Cody Bellinger

Highlights

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