Chase Headley waited 11 years to get his first postseason hit, an RBI single in Game 3 of the ALCS.
He topped that Tuesday, when his pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth helped spur a comeback win in Game 4 that tied the ALCS.
And on Wednesday, Headley delivered three more hits in a 5-0 Game 5 win over the Astros that gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the series.
After going 0-for-18 with eight strikeouts in his postseason career, Headley finally broke through against the Astros. The Yankees had been hitless in 28 at-bats from the DH spot before Headley’s hit — and 0-for-41 dating back to 2012.
“I think you just have to keep in mind that sometimes in 15 at-bats, things aren’t going to go your way,” Headley said. “And the last four or five at-bats before I started getting some hits, I had some better at-bats. I just tried to stick with the plan and trust results were going to come.’’
Headley went 1-for-3 in Game 3 and then singled in his only at-bat in Game 4 before leading off the bottom of the third with a single to center against Dallas Keuchel on Wednesday.
He was forced out at second on Brett Gardner’s ground out, but even that worked out well, since Gardner was able to score when Aaron Judge doubled to left. The less-speedy Headley wouldn’t have made it.
That play came a day after Headley slipped between first and second after a pinch-hit single and still managed to reach second base, keying a four-run, go-ahead rally.
There was no need for such dramatics on Wednesday, not with the Yankees jumping to an early lead and Masahiro Tanaka continuing his superb postseason run.
But after getting nothing from the DH spot for much of the playoffs, as Headley and Jacoby Ellsbury started off terribly and Matt Holliday became a forgotten man, Joe Girardi was pleased to see more production.
“When you get in these types of series, you don’t know where the runs are going to come from,” Girardi said. “You just need production from certain groups that are together and it’s great for him and us.”
Headley also singled and scored in the fifth and added a double in the sixth. With right-hander Justin Verlander slated to go in Houston in Game 6, he could get another chance; Headley is 6-for-18 against the right-hander.
The Yankees figure to try to take a similar approach into Friday’s game, after they hit Keuchel much better the second time around.
“I think whenever you face a pitcher twice in a week it makes it a little easier for the hitters,” Headley said. “You understand what his stuff is doing. Obviously he had a lot of success against us the first day, so we thought he was probably going to attack us close to the same way.”