NEW YORK -- In the fourth inning of Thursday night¡¯s game, Gary Sánchez¡¯s postseason struggles reached the point where Yankees fans gave the catcher a smattering of boos as he walked off the field following a groundout.

With one big swing in the sixth inning, though, S¨¢nchez surged back into the good graces of the packed crowd at Yankee Stadium -- and he pushed the Yanks right back within striking distance of the Astros in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.

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S¨¢nchez crushed a two-run homer off Houston reliever Josh James to cut the Yankees¡¯ deficit to three, an important answer to Carlos Correa¡¯s three-run blast in the top of the frame, but it wasn¡¯t enough as the Yanks fell, 8-3, and face elimination against Astros co-ace Justin Verlander in Game 5 on Friday night.

¡°We¡¯ve got to forget about these three games that we¡¯ve lost,¡± S¨¢nchez said. ¡°I believe in the team that we have. We believe in ourselves. We have to flush it out and come back ready to play tomorrow.¡±

The Yankees had squandered a promising scoring opportunity in the fifth, when they loaded the bases with one out but failed to score against reliever Ryan Pressly. But in the next inning, New York kept pushing with a leadoff walk by Brett Gardner before S¨¢nchez turned on a 2-1 outside fastball and hit the pitch a Statcast-projected 403 feet to left field for his first homer of the postseason.

¡°All these at-bats, I¡¯ve been battling, trying to find my way,¡± S¨¢nchez said. ¡°I never put my head down, never lost confidence in myself, and I was able to put a good swing on that ball. I¡¯m hoping this is it, this is what gets me back on track. I¡¯m looking forward to tomorrow.¡±

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S¨¢nchez¡¯s homer had an exit velocity of 110.9 mph, the hardest-hit long ball of the 2019 playoffs. He had 19 homers hit in excess of 110 mph during the regular season, giving him a share of the Major League lead with Mets first baseman Pete Alonso.

The shot marked a redemptive moment for S¨¢nchez in the context of both his playoff-long struggles and a missed opportunity earlier in the game. The Yanks threatened in the first inning by loading the bases against a wild Zack Greinke and got a run on a bases-loaded walk by Gardner, but S¨¢nchez struck out to end the frame.

"I feel like we've done a pretty good job offensively of putting ourselves in position to have that breakthrough inning where we can throw a crooked number up there or get that big hit to kind of get us rolling," manager Aaron Boone said of the Yankees' missed opportunities. "Part of that is they've pitched us tough and that's part of it."

S¨¢nchez¡¯s fourth-inning groundout pushed his postseason stat line to 2-for-23, and he had been hitless in his last 13 plate appearances before the home run.