The Yankees desperately needed something positive Monday night and, the offense delivered. After a brutal 2-7 road trip that ended with another frustrating series loss in Queens, the Yankees returned to the Bronx looking for any sign of life.
Behind a huge night from Paul Goldschmidt, timely power from Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr., and a stressful but successful finish from David Bednar, the Yankees managed to hold off Toronto 7-6 to open an important four-game series against the Blue Jays.
Paul Goldschmidt wasted no time giving the Yankees life Monday night, launching a leadoff home run into right-center field to open the game. Goldschmidt’s fifth homer of the season immediately gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead and some early juice.
Ryan Weathers cruised through the early innings before the game suddenly flipped in the fourth. After Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kazuma Okamoto reached on singles, Ernie Clement got just enough of a two-out, three-run homer into left-center field that gave Toronto a 3-1 lead.
The Yankees answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning, showing some fight. Anthony Volpe reached on a double after an out call was overturned and later scored using a nifty slide on a sacrifice fly from J.C. Escarra. That trimmed the deficit to one before Goldschmidt delivered again with two outs. The veteran first baseman lined a game-tying double into center field that scored Max Schuemann and tied the game at 3-3.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, the tie did not survive long. George Springer jumped on a Weathers offering in the fifth inning and launched a solo homer into left-center field to put Toronto back ahead 4-3.
Toronto added another run in the sixth inning after Lenyn Sosa and Daulton Varsho singled to chase Weathers from the game. Paul Blackburn relieved the left-hander and allowed Sosa to score on a Clement fielder’s choice.
Weathers’ final line was 5.1 innings of 5-run ball with 7 strikeouts and no walks. Outside of the two big mistakes, Weathers’ stuff otherwise looked impressive throughout the night.
The score held at 5-3 until the seventh inning. In the bottom of the frame, the Yankees offense decided it was not going quietly into the night. Yariel Rodríguez replaced Adam Macko, who looked sharp in his Major League debut.
The Yankees quickly lit Rodríguez up like a Coney Island booth. Aaron Judge singled before Cody Bellinger launched a ball 402 feet into the Yankees bullpen, tying the game at 5-5. However, the Yankees were not done there.
Trent Grisham worked a walk while pinch hitting for Amed Rosario before Jazz Chisholm Jr. lofted a ball down the left field line that provided a little music off the foul pole. Chisholm’s fifth home run of the season gave the Yankees a 7-5 lead and had the dugout, crowd, and several living rooms around the country rocking.
The bullpen must prefer the water in the Bronx. In relief of Weathers, Paul Blackburn worked 1.2 scoreless innings before Fernando Cruz struck out the side in the eighth inning. Aaron Boone then handed the ball to closer David Bednar for a chance at redemption, hoping the veteran right-hander would have a short memory.
Bednar walked the leadoff hitter and a collective tightening could immediately be felt throughout Yankee Stadium. Pinch hitter Jesús Sánchez then doubled into right field, scoring Ernie Clement all the way from first base and trimming the lead to 7-6. Groans could be heard, but overall the boos held.
With no outs, the Blue Jays attempted to advance the runner, but after a few failed tries Bednar finally got Brandon Valenzuela swinging on a nasty splitter. A long battle with Yohendrick Piñango then resulted in a walk and a mound visit from pitching coach Matt Blake before George Springer stepped to the plate.
Needing a strikeout or ground ball, Bednar quickly found himself in a 3-0 count with his pitch count already climbing. After getting Springer to swing through two splitters, Bednar went back to the pitch one more time and got the veteran outfielder swinging again for a massive second out.
With two outs, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stepped to the plate representing the tying run. Bednar again fell behind 2-0 before battling back to even the count at 2-2. After the at-bat eventually ran full, Guerrero rolled a ground ball to Jazz Chisholm Jr. that resulted in a routine 4-3 putout and finally slammed the door shut.
It was a gutsy and badly needed win for the Yankees and, for one night at least, all was right in Yankee land. Blackburn picked up the win and Bednar gets his 11th save as the Yankees improved to 1-0 against Toronto in the series.
The Yankees will send Will Warren to the mound tomorrow night as he faces Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease. First pitch is once again scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Eastern in the Bronx.
