Bang this! Yankees smack Astros, Giancarlo Stanton rakes | Rapid reaction

NEW YORK — When Frank Sinatra sang, “Start spreadin’ the news,” he didn’t think the Astros would do it via garbage can.

The Yankees just said: Bang this.

It didn’t quite qualify as revenge, but as Yankee Stadium boiled all night with bad blood, the Yankees gave fans just what they craved: a 7-3 win over the Astros on Tuesday night.

It was their first meeting since Houston’s 2017 cheating scandal was revealed.

With the loudest boos in a long time and chants of “F — Altuve” from the first pitch until the last, 10,850 fans made it feel like a packed house.

They were angry not just that the Astros used an elaborate sign-stealing scheme — one that included illicit cameras and players banging trash cans near the dugout to signal incoming pitches — en route to a title, but that the coronavirus pandemic robbed them of their chance to hate on Houston in 2020.

Behind Domingo German’s five solid innings, Giancarlo Stanton’s home run and four total hits, and a sixth-inning explosion, the Yankees backed up their faithful.

The Yankees won their fourth straight and had nabbed 10 of their last 14 games to improve to 15-14 — their first time above .500 since April 6 when they were 3-2. Houston dropped to 15-14 and had lost two in a row.

Perhaps shaken by more than a dozen lewd chants, Jose Altuve went hitless in four at-bats. (Altuve won the 2017 AL MVP over runner-up Aaron Judge.) Right-hander Zack Greinke lasted just five innings. Rougned Odor hurt his knee in a collision at home plate with catcher Martin Maldonado in the sixth inning and left the game. He was scheduled for an MRI later in the night.

Lucas Luetge, Jonathan Loasigia, Wandy Peralta and Chad Green, respectively, each threw scoreless innings in relief of German, who gave up three runs on six strikeouts, four hits and a walk. German surrendered a first-inning bomb to Alex Bregman, but then sat down the next seven hitters before Michael Brantley’s solo blast to lead off the fourth. A Yuli Gurriel RBI double later in the inning tied the game at 3-3.

Then four-run fourth inning busted it open for the Yankees.

When DJ LeMahieu walked to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, his team was already hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position (and finished 1-for-8 on the night). That changed when LeMahieu tapped a two-strike, slow grounder to third base. Alex Bregman’s throw to first base was wide and it skipped past Gurriel. Aaron Judge scored, then Gio Urshela. But when Odor crossed the plate, it got scary.

Odor got tangled with Maldonado. Both players fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Odor clutched his left hamstring and had to be helped off the field, though he walked under his own power in the dugout. Both players left the game. Tyler Wade took over for Odor at second base while Jason Castro subbed in for Maldonado.

With the score 6-3, Stanton immediately followed with an RBI single up the middle and around the shift.

The Yankees landed the initial blow in the first inning but let Greinke off the hook.

DJ LeMahieu led off with a walk before Stanton crushed a home run to left field, tying him with Judge at seven for the team lead. Then Judge walked, Gio Urshela singled with a grounder through the right side and Gleyber Torres walked to load the bases.

But Frazier couldn’t keep it going, grounding weakly to second base. It brought in Judge to extend the Yankees’ lead to 3-0, and then Aaron Hicks grounded out to first to end the frame. It was a 31-pitch first inning for Grienke, who then settled in.

Including Frazier’s double play, the veteran righty retired 11 of the next 13 batters he faced, leaving in the fifth inning after throwing 84 pitches, striking out four and walking four.

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Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.