Yankees' Adam Ottavino 'Put the Team in a Tough Spot' in Game 3 Loss

Adam Ottavino wasn't charged with the loss in the Houston Astros' 4-1 win over the New York Yankees on Tuesday, but his struggles in the seventh inning hurt his team's chances at a comeback.

"I put the team in a tough spot," the pitcher said after the game, per Lindsey Adler of The Athletic.

Ottavino faced two batters and allowed both of them to reach base before they eventually scored against Zack Britton. It doubled the deficit from two to four runs in the eventual Game 3 loss.

Although there wasn't a lot of contact against either pitcher—Ottavino walked George Springer before giving up a single to Jose Altuve—but the Astros took advantage with their aggressiveness on the basepaths.

Houston eventually scored on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly.

This performance came after Ottavino allowed a home run to Springer in the fifth inning of Game 2. He was charged with a blown save in what became a 3-2 Astros win.

The Yankees reliever had a dominant regular season with 1.90 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 66.1 innings. However, he has struggled in the postseason with nine of 16 batters faced reaching base either by hit or walk.

He has officially pitched only 2.1 innings in the playoffs but has now allowed three earned runs.

These struggles could force the Yankees to give bigger roles to alternative options like Luis Cessa and Tommy Kahnle ahead of Aroldis Chapman.