Trailing the White Sox 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning and down to their final out, the Yankees looked as if they might miss their opportunity to clinch the postseason for the eighth time in nine
seasons. One wild pitch changed everything. A ball to the backstop scored the tying tally from third and set up an opportunity for this summer’s final trade deadline addition: José Caballero. Caballero worked his tail off at the plate, and managed a bloop which found grass in center field. With that knock, the celebration was on. The Yankees pulled off the last-second comeback to punch their playoff ticket.
New York got on the board first in the second inning courtesy of the bottom of their lineup. Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s walk and subsequent stolen base set the table, and an Anthony Volpe single sent him to third. Up came ninth-place hitter Austin Wells, who snuck a liner just fair down the right field line to score Jazz and put the Yankees up 1-0. That double put two men in scoring position for the top of the order, but Shane Smith rallied to strike out Trent Grisham, then retired Cody Bellinger after an intentional walk to Aaron Judge.
The Bombers wasted plenty of early chances, stranding five runners in the first two frames. That was thanks to some gutsy pitching from Shane Smith. The 25-year old rookie who pitched well against the Yankees back in August used his outstanding fastball to keep the Bombers off their game. He also benefited from a pair of excellent defensive plays: a diving catch by Brooks Baldwin to rob Wells of a hit and an outfield assist by Dominic Fletcher to cut down Ben Rice trying to stretch a single into a double. Smith would ultimately strand seven baserunners across five innings while striking out eight batters.
Meanwhile, Luis Gil stayed a step ahead of the White Sox through those first five frames. He continually got the first two outs with ease, which gave Chicago little runway with which to spark some rallies. In the third, a wholly self-inflicted baserunner made it to third base (two-out walk, errant pickoff throw, wild pitch), but Gil calmly sent down Colson Montgomery to keep them scoreless. He followed that with a breezy fourth and fifth in which he threw six pitches each.
The good vibes halted in the sixth. A blooper from Kyle Teel which looked plenty catchable wound up dropping between Judge and Grisham, neither of whom made an active effort to call for the ball. That set up Montgomery, who obliterated a fastball from Gil to break a 14-game homerless drought and vault the White Sox ahead, 2-1.
The Yankee mistakes mounted in the home half when Chisholm got himself picked off by reliever Tyler Gilbert with one out. That baserunning gaffe expunged the rally, as Volpe struck out on the next pitch to end the frame.
After a double play from Judge sent them packing in the seventh, the Bombers were down to their last six outs. The stage was set for an inning in which no good effort was rewarded. Rice got a man on in the eighth with his third hit of the game before being replaced by José Caballero. Stanton just got jammed a bit on a long fly ball for the second out, then Jazz slashed a frozen rope down the right field line. He hit it too hard though, and it bounced off the wall directly to Dominic Fletcher, forcing Caballero to stop at third as a result. Chisholm slipped rounding first, so he had to stay put there.
That set up Amed Rosario in a big spot in his second at-bat off the bench. As if to taunt the Yanks further, a ball in the dirt from reliever Grant Taylor bounced right down the third base line, again compelling Caballero to keep his anchor down 90 feet from shore. The very next pitch was a fastball down the middle which froze Rosario for the final out. Two more runners were left marooned as the game went to the ninth.
Luke Weaver pitched around a leadoff walk from Baldwin to preserve the one-run margin as the Yankees took their last licks. Volpe got the Stadium crowd invested with a leadoff single, then a base hit from Wells got them believing. That brought up Grisham and the top of the Yankees order. But on the first pitch of the at-bat, lefty Brandon Eisert got Grisham to roll over to second for a deflating double play. Volpe reached third, but with another intentional walk to Judge, it was up to the 0-for-4 Bellinger to keep New York’s hopes alive.
Bellinger battled to a full count, fouled away a slider, then watched the next pitch fly by.
So did the catcher Teel.
They all watched as the ball sailed to the backstop. All except Volpe, who slammed on the accelerator and motored home to score the game-tying run.
That wild pitch was ball four, of course, so with the righty Caballero coming up, Eisert was dismissed for righty Steven Wilson. Caballero put together a quality at-bat of his own, and on the ninth pitch, he swiped a short bloop to center field. Defensive replacement Michael A. Taylor watched the ball drop in front of him, and Judge rumbled home to score the game-winning run to vault the Yankees back into the postseason.
The night which wrapped up the Yankees’ playoff pursuit featured key performances from the ensemble rather than the main cast. The major hits came from Wells, Volpe, and of course Caballero, while Gil and the Yankee bullpen kept the game close. This kind of full-team effort is encouraging to see for a team which has all too often leaned on their stars to get the job done.
The terrific comeback accompanied more good news: the Blue Jays lost to the Red Sox up north to bring the Bombers back within a game in the AL East race with Toronto now needing to contend with Cy Young contender Garrett Crochet tomorrow. Tiebreaker be damned, the division crown is now a distinct possibility, and the Yankees will look to continue their winning ways on Tuesday while keeping an eye on the activity at Rogers Centre. Max Fried will get the ball for the Yankees in the Bronx; manager Will Venable and the White Sox have not announced a starter. First pitch is once again scheduled for 7:05pm ET on YES.
