A great Yankees season, but losing is still disappointing

This season for the Yankees was never supposed to be about shocking the Cleveland Indians in five games in the AL division series, or pushing the wildly talented Houston Astros to seven games in the AL championship series.

It was supposed to be about building for what certainly looked like a bright future, and trying to figure out who were going to be the building blocks for that future.

What would become of Aaron Judge after he struck out in 50 percent of his plate appearances at the end of 2016? Could Gary Sanchez possibly be a future home run champion after his stunning two-month explosion last year? Could Luis Severino be the next Yankee ace, or, given his struggles in 2016, was he destined to become just another flamethrower in the bullpen?

Would Greg Bird rebound from missing all of 2016 after shoulder surgery, lock down first base, and be a 30-homer player? Did Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury have anything left? What exactly was Aaron Hicks beyond a guy with a strong arm? What in God’s name was Brian Cashman thinking signing Chris Carter?

I could go on and on about a team that had so many questions back in February, a team I had pegged for 83 wins at best. This year was supposed to be about next year, and the year after, but this gritty group made it all about this year, and that’s why the anemic 4-0 loss to Houston which ended the season Saturday night is a stinging disappointment.

The Yankees surprised everyone by pushing Boston to the final weekend in the AL East race. They rallied from 3-0 down in the first inning of the wild-card game against Minnesota to win in a romp. They fell behind the Indians two games to none, thanks in large part to one of Joe Girardi’s worst moments as a manager, yet had the resolve to win three straight including Game 5 against Corey Kluber in Cleveland. And then against the Astros, after losing two tense, nail-biting 2-1 games to dig another two-game hole, they responded with three scintillating wins at suddenly rejuvenated Yankee Stadium and we all dared to dream of championship No. 28.

Alas, the offense never got on the plane bound for Houston and the Astros dominated the final two games, limiting the Yankees to one run on 10 hits over the last 18 frustrating innings of the season.

In the end, Houston was the better team. Most Yankee fans knew this going into the series, and most would have to concede now that it’s over that it was true. Beating three times, a team that counts Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Marwin Gonzalez, Yuli Gurriel, Alex Bregman and George Springer was one hell of an accomplishment for the Yankees. And still, losing always sucks, no matter how good the opponent.

Here are my takeaways from Game 7, the moments I felt were pivotal in preventing the Yankees from winning their 41st AL championship.

-- I expected more from CC Sabathia in this spot. I felt good about Sabathia getting this start because he’s been in this situation before, he knows what he’s doing out there, and he wasn’t going to get rattled in that noisy band box named after an orange juice company. But you could tell from the first inning that he didn’t have his command.

The Astros had all kinds of traffic the first three innings and the Yankees were fortunate to have stranded five runners to keep the game scoreless. And then giving up the homer to Evan Gattis in the fourth, walking Brian McCann, and then allowing Josh Reddick – who had been 0-for-22 in the series – to line a single, ended Sabathia’s night after just 3 2/3 innings. Disappointing.

-- Greg Bird getting thrown out at the plate was the play of the game. Tommy Kahnle had rescued Sabathia by getting a double play on his only pitch in the fourth, keeping the score 1-0. Bird led off the fifth with a double, and now we’re thinking New York would have an answer. But from that point on, the game crumbled all around the Yankees.

Starlin Castro put together a horrible at bat that ended in a strikeout, failing to move Bird to third. Hicks finally did something useful at the plate, drawing a walk, and in the process, Charlie Morton’s fourth ball got past McCann so Bird did end up on third base with just one out.

Now, the fateful play. Todd Frazier hit a weak chopper to Bregman at third, and Bird went on contact. When the ball was first hit, I thought two things: There’s no way the Astros can turn two because the ball was hit too softly, and the only play would be to first so Bird would score. Wrong. Bird, who moves like a glacier, was thrown out at the plate for the second time in this series.

Bregman fielded the ball, fired a perfect throw to McCann, and the catcher did what Sanchez is apparently unable to do – he caught the ball and tagged out Bird. After that emotional swing, I could sense the Yankees were done. If Bird is safe, the game is tied, are runners on first and second with one out, and the Astros are reeling. Instead, the Yankees were still down 1-0, and it quickly became 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth.

-- Kahnle was great in the postseason. Batters were 2-for-32 against him coming into Game 7, and he hadn’t allowed a run. But the Astros attacked him in the fifth, and for the life of me I don’t know what the hell the Yankees were doing. Kahnle threw 17 changeups among his 24 pitches in the inning. Why? The guy throws 96-98, the Astros had done nothing against him the whole series, and now he’s throwing changeups in the biggest game of the year?

Altuve homered on a changeup, Correa ripped a hard single up the middle on a fastball, Gurriel poked a changeup past Castro and into right for a single, and still, Sanchez – I’m assuming the pitches were called from the bench – kept putting down four fingers for the changeup. Common sense briefly prevailed and after screwing around with Gattis, Kahnle finally struck him out with a 96 mph fastball, and that brought up McCann.

McCann is not a good hitter. We saw that when he played for the Yankees. He could hit home runs over the short porch, but he was usually not a productive offensive player, and that didn’t change after his trade to Houston this year. He hit .241 with 18 homers in the regular season, and was 2-for-26 this postseason heading into Game 6 before breaking through with two big hits.

Kahnle inexplicably threw five straight changeups to a guy who was most likely not going to catch up to his heat, and on the fifth pitch, McCann ripped a double down the line in right to score two runs and effectively end the game.

-- A couple other quick thoughts: Judge’s catch to rob Gurriel of a home run in the second was a magnificent play. Judge is known for home runs and strikeouts, but his fielding skills are impressive for a man his size. … Sanchez better spend the entire offseason learning how to not only block pitches, but actually catch the ball. … Todd Frazier was a nice addition, but beyond his great attitude and infectious smile in the clubhouse as a guy who really seemed to fit in, I can’t see the Yankees paying him as a free agent, especially with Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar waiting in the minors. … As for Girardi, I’m not a fan, but if they want him back, he’d be dumb not to accept because this team looks like it’s geared up for World Series runs the next couple seasons.