The last time Gerrit Cole, one of the aces of the Houston Astros’ starting rotation, lost a game was May 22, when he coughed up six runs over five innings in a 9-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox. Since then, his run of dominance has been simply stunning: 169⅓ innings, 258 strikeouts and a 1.59 E.R.A.

That included his masterful performance at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, when he stifled the Yankees in a 4-1 Astros victory in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. The Yankees threw whatever stumbling blocks they could in front of Cole over seven innings — he walked five batters, matching his career high — but he danced past them each time.

The Yankees’ pitchers could not match Cole, and the result was a two-games-to-one advantage for the Astros in the best-of-seven series. With a postponement of Game 4 on Wednesday possible because of rain, the Yankees may face the daunting situation of having to beat the Astros’ other vaunted starters — Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke — to stave off elimination.

The Yankees’ starter on Tuesday, Luis Severino, looked very much like a pitcher who was making just his fifth start of the year after dealing with injuries. He walked three batters and coughed up two home runs over four and one-third innings. Then the Astros got two more runs when two normally reliable relievers — Adam Ottavino and Zack Britton — faltered.