The first three innings of the series opener between the Yankees and Pirates were tantamount to a fierce battle on the open sea. The Bombers struck the first blow with a four-run opening inning, then the plucky crew from Pittsburgh returned fire with five runs of their own climb in front. The tide of battle turned immediately back into the Yankees’ favor, however, thanks to the heroic exploits of Jazz Chisholm Jr. Jazz hit two home runs on the night, including what would be the game-winning blast,
to lead New York to a victory for the second consecutive evening.
The second act of this game was nothing but calm on the water, thanks to the Yankees’ bullpen. Angel Chivilli, Brent Headrick, Tim Hill, and Fernando Cruz joined forces for over four innings of scoreless work, letting up just two hits and a walk to seal the deal.
While the 2026 Pirates have the look of a team ready to turn a corner and mature from the doldrums of yesteryear, the old Bad News Bucs made an appearance when the Yankees first came up to bat.
It started after Ben Rice successfully overturned a called third strike into ball four, giving New York a baserunner. Rice was able to rumble from first to third after a grounder from Paul Goldschmidt was booted by third baseman Nick Gonzales. Then Bryan Reynolds, in his haste to quickly get the ball back in from the outfield, twirled and spiked the ball into the grass as if he’d scored a touchdown. Rice was able to score easily as a result to give the Yankees the early lead.
A single by Bellinger gave the Bombers a chance to add on, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. was happy to provide. Fresh off smacking the go-ahead home run in last night’s victory over the Dodgers, Jazz repeated the act on a 1-1 curveball from Ashcraft, powering it deep out to right for his 15th home run of the year and a four-spot in the opening frame against an All-Star pitcher.
Now in the unfamiliar position of receiving early and substantial run support, one would hope that Ryan Weathers could settle in and lock things down on the hill. Alas, it was not to be. The talented Pittsburgh offense wasted little time striking back, putting two runners in scoring position for shortstop Jared Triolo. Triolo attacked a first-pitch hanging slider from Weathers and stroked a ground-rule double over the left-center bullpen wall to cut the Yankee lead in half.
Triolo was not content to stand around and wait while parked at second base. At several points throughout the remainder of the half-inning, he signaled to his teammates at the mound as if to indicate what Weathers was about to throw next. Whether or not Triolo actually knew the signs, it seemed to get under the lefty’s skin—and it bore more fruit for the Bucs when Gonzales atoned for his error with a base hit to bring Triolo home and make it a 4-3 affair in short order.
The tone for the evening was set, and the runs would keep on flowing from there. Weathers’ woes continued after the Yankees went down quietly in the second inning, and Reynolds walked to bring up Pittsburgh’s exciting young power hitter, Esmerlyn Valdez. Another slider from the southpaw caught too much of the strike zone, and Valdez pulverized it the other way for a titanic 431-foot go-ahead blast. The rookie already has 13 home runs in 107 MLB plate appearances.
Weathers settled down enough to retire the next three batters in order, which meant the Yankees were down 5-4 but certainly not out. Cue the Jazz.
With a runner on, Chisholm matched up with Ashcraft once again. He battled to a full count before Ashcraft fired a payoff sinker right in the lefty-hitter happy zone: down and in. Jazz attacked quickly, slashing it well deep enough to leave the yard but hooking down the right field line. He leaned with his body after the swing, willing the ball to stay fair—and it did, landing inside the pole in the second deck for Chisholm’s second round-tripper of the night.
The Yanks weren’t done. That home run was the first of five consecutive hits the Bombers smacked off Ashcraft in the third, for a total of six in the frame. The final knock of that flurry was a José Caballero two-run double which kissed the chalk on the left field line and put New York ahead 8-5. Ashcraft stranded two runners in scoring position, but departed having allowed eight runs on eight hits with just two strikeouts.
As soon as the starters departed the game, the tone of this game changed dramatically. The Yankees found themselves flummoxed by young reliever Wilber Dotel, who retired nine of the ten batters he faced with five strikeouts from the fourth through the sixth. Only a single from Ben Rice kept Dotel from a perfect outing.
Thankfully, the Yankees bullpen held up their end of the bargain. It began with Angel Chivilli, who secured the final out of the fifth in relief of Weathers, then put away the Pirates in order in the sixth. Chivilli has been steadily climbing the ladder of trust since his call-up.
Brent Headrick continued his spectacular season with a perfect seventh inning, striking out Reynolds and Valdez to send us to the stretch. The lefty relief ace now has a 1.43 ERA on the season, one of the best marks for a reliever in the league.
Tim Hill was next up, and began the eighth inning by allowing an infield hit—despite the best efforts of a jump-throwing Jazz. Hill responded by inducing a perfect double play ball from the lumbering Marcell Ozuna. A quick turn from Caballero to Chisholm got the job done. Hill allowed another single and yielded to Fernando Cruz, who struck out pinch-hitter Tyler Callihan to retire the side.
The bottom of the eighth provided one last bit of theater. Former Yankee Dennis Santana took the mound for the Bucs and faced Caballero with one on and one out. Caballero did his signature move of not looking at the pitcher until the last possible moment, which evidently got Santana upset. Cabby eventually tapped a ball to Santana, who began a 1-6-3 twin killing—then he had some words for the Yankee shortstop. Both dugouts emptied and Santana did the hold-me-back-bro routine before his teammates escorted him off the field. Okay then.
Cruz continued on for the ninth inning and left no remaining room for doubt, setting down the Pirates in order, including on a pair of strikeouts against Gonzales and former Ray Brandon Lowe—and the Yankees won the 100th game of their season, improving to 56-44 on the year.
Annoyingly, the Rays and Red Sox both won tonight; the latter team came from behind against the Orioles to notch their 14th straight win. Still, the Bombers kept pace, and have much to celebrate from tonight’s effort.
Tomorrow night’s game will feature a matchup of two talented pitchers seeking to establish themselves. Will Warren is set to take his turn against the filthy-but-wild Bubba Chandler, with coverage set for the same time on the same channel: 7:05 pm on YES.
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