HOUSTON -- The latest snapshot of the American League Championship Series finds the New York Yankees in a tenuous and agitated state.

Right fielder Aaron Judge and catcher Gary Sanchez aren't hitting. Luis Severino, the staff ace, is perturbed that manager Joe Girardi pulled him in the fifth inning when he felt strong and healthy enough to continue Saturday. And if the wild-card game against Minnesota and the two series since are any indication, the Yankees need some work on their ability to win games of the non-elimination kind.

The good news: The Yankees are down 2-0 to the Houston Astros in the ALCS. That's a situation they're eminently capable of handling.

A little more than a week ago, the Yankees returned home to the Bronx trailing the Cleveland Indians 2-0 in the AL Division Series. They'd just blown an 8-3 lead to lose 9-8, and Girardi was under siege for being slow on the uptake and declining an opportunity to challenge a controversial (and incorrect) hit-by-pitch call on Cleveland's Lonnie Chisenhall.

The Yankees shut out the noise, took two games in the Bronx and beat Corey Kluber in the series finale to move on to face the Astros for the AL pennant, saving their manager a lot of scrutiny in the process.

Now they'll find out: Was the comeback against Cleveland an aberration or the theme of their postseason?

"Of course, you can draw on that," designated hitter Chase Headley said. "Obviously, we need to come out and win the next game. But sure, that's something you can look back on and say, 'Hey, we've been here before, and we were able to get it done.'"

It might take the Yankees a decent night's sleep and a day to process the shocking end to Saturday's game. With closer Aroldis Chapman on the mound, Carlos Correa gapped a double and Jose Altuve scored the winning run when Sanchez couldn't corral a short-hop relay throw from Didi Gregorius, via Judge in right-center, giving the Astros a 2-1 victory at Minute Maid Park. It was the type of bang-bang play that needs to be dissected ad nauseam on video to process all the different ways the ending might have unfolded.

File the Yankees' two losses in Houston under “wasted opportunity." New York's pitching staff has performed admirably against a Houston lineup that led the majors in on-base and slugging percentage, fewest strikeouts and a passel of other offensive categories this season, and the Yankees still lost by an aggregate score of 4-2.

The Astros are ahead because the Yankees did next to nothing against Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander in the first two games. Houston's bullpen could be vulnerable, but it has essentially been a nonfactor because the two Astros starters hung around so long.

Strikeouts have been a major problem for New York, and Judge's inability to make contact remains a source of concern. He's hitting .129 with 19 strikeouts in 31 playoff at-bats against the Twins, Indians and Astros, and he's flailing at a prodigious enough rate that Alfonso Soriano's postseason record of 26 in 2003 is in sight.

Following the Indians' lead, the Astros have had success against Judge by attacking him with lots of breaking stuff low and out of the strike zone. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Judge is seeing 56 percent breaking balls in the playoffs -- the highest percentage of any player to play multiple postseason games and up significantly from the 33 percent breaking balls he saw during the regular season.

Judge is hitting .150 (3-for-20) with 14 strikeouts in at-bats ending with a breaking ball this postseason. He has also missed 28 of the 42 breaking balls he has swung at in October. That 67 percent rate is the highest miss percentage of any player this postseason.

"Pitchers are making really good pitches on him, and they know they have to be careful and they're being careful," Girardi said. "That's why you're seeing some walks in there, too.

"If you go through 25 of his at-bats during the course of the season, there might be five or six pitches that he just misses. I haven't seen that now, because he's not getting those types of pitches."

Judge is hardly alone. The New York hitters have struck out 27 times in 63 at-bats against Houston in the ALCS, and Judge is merely in a four-way tie for third on the team with three whiffs. Sanchez and Brett Gardner lead the way with five each.

The natural question amid all those breeze-generating swings: Are the Yankees’ issues related to hitters pressing or Houston's pitchers executing so well?

"It could be a combination of both," Gardner said. "I know, for me, I struck out three times today and I was a little too patient at the plate. I took some balls early in counts that I probably should have pulled the trigger on and tried to hit in the gap somewhere. Instead, I'm letting him get ahead. And the next thing you know, he's got two strikes. And he's a really, really good pitcher. You don't want to hit against anybody like that with two strikes."

Amen to that. Verlander went to 0-2 counts on 13 New York hitters Saturday and retired all 13 -- seven via strikeouts. He threw his slider a whopping 31.5 percent of the time and recorded nine of his 13 strikeouts with the pitch.

When hitters aren't hitting, minor transgressions can be magnified in a huge way. Astros left fielder Marwin Gonzalez made a pivotal play in the series opener when he threw out Greg Bird at home plate on a single by Judge. In Game 2, Gardner doubled to lead off the third inning and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Even though coach Joe Espada was waving him to third, Gardner faulted himself for a lack of baserunning execution.

"I didn't get around second base real good," Gardner said. "I didn't hit it like I normally do and push off the inside of the bag and make a sharp turn. Mechanically, I was just a little out of whack going around second. It wasn't perfect, and it needed to be. And unfortunately, that split-second cost us."

That's all behind them now. Going strictly by the résumés, an opportunity awaits the Yankees when the series shifts to the Bronx. They'll face Charlie Morton in Game 3 and possibly Brad Peacock in Game 4 before Keuchel's turn comes around again. If the Yankees can score early and let their bullpen go to work, the tone of the series can shift in a hurry.

"It's going to take one little thing -- one little spark to get us going," third baseman Todd Frazier said. "And in two days, I think we're going to find that."

Until then, the New York players will take comfort in the familiarity of home and the warm memories of the Cleveland series. As the Indians can attest, these Yankees do some of their best work with their backs against the dugout wall.