After CC Sabathia’s No. 52 retirement ceremony and a rather forgettable Game 1 of Friday’s doubleheader, the New York Yankees will take the field again and face the Baltimore Orioles in the nightcap. The Bombers already know that they will host the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card round, and the O’s are already eliminated from playoff contention.
As a result, this is merely a tune-up game for New York, but that’s certainly not insignificant ahead of another edition of their rivalry with the Sox. Brandon
Young will take the ball for Baltimore, trying to wrap up a solid year. The 28-year-old followed up his mediocre 57.2-inning cameo last year with a very solid campaign in 2026, with 151.2 frames of a 3.62 ERA, a 4.53 FIP, and 127 punchouts. He is not a star, but did more than enough to win a long-term spot on the O’s staff.
The Yankees, with that series against their bitter rivals looming, didn’t announce their starting pitcher for Game 2 of the doubleheader until just about 10 minutes ago. Long reliever Ryan Yarbrough gets the nod for his second start of the season; he last pitched on Tuesday. His only other start of 2026 was the second game of another doubleheader against the Dodgers, when he went 2.2 shutout innings back on July 19th.
Yarbrough is obviously not built up length-wise to go deep in this one either, but the expectation is that Will Warren will pitch a couple innings as preparation for the playoffs. He last pitched on Sunday in Arizona. Big things were expected from Warren this season, and while he didn’t exactly develop into an ace, he has been steady as a rock with a 4.02 ERA in 152.1 innings. A team would take that from its No. 5 starter any day of the week. David Bednar, Brent Headrick, and Paul Blackburn can only pitch so much, so Warren could certainly make a positive impact in the ‘pen.
Also keep an eye on the bullpen for Alexander Cornielle. A career minor-league signed before the season, the right-hander made 16 starts for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and was activated to the big-league roster between games with matinee starter Brendan Beck optioned. If he appears tonight or Sunday, it will be his MLB debut.
From this point forward, everything the Yankees do on the field will be with the Red Sox in mind, so don’t expect an all-out effort from those expected to be on the Wild Card round roster. Still, the 161st game of the year will likely allow some players to audition for a spot.
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY
First pitch: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV broadcast: YES, MASN
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280
Streaming: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)
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