The Yankees battled back and won in walk-off fashion as New York beat the Guardians, 4-3, in 10 innings.
Takeaways
- The Yankees defense did not back up Clarke Schmidt in the first inning. After Steven Kwan reached on a single, Schmidt got Amed Rosario to ground into what should have been a double play but Gleyber Torres let his throw sail. Anthony Rizzo followed by failing to get Jose Ramirez out at first base on a ground ball that came out of his glove. Schmidt would recover, getting Josh Naylor to strike out swinging but Josh Bell got the Guardians on the board with a single. Andres Gimenez followed with a seeing-eye single to put Cleveland up 2-0. Schmidt would get the final out of the inning throwing 28 pitches when he should have gotten out throwing just 11 or 12.
Schmidt didn’t do himself any favors by getting into high counts and not being able to put batters away. Despite that, Schmidt was solid, allowing just the two runs before giving up a one-out single in the fifth inning before manager Aaron Boone pulled him.
Schmidt’s final line: 4.1 IP, six hits, zero earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts.
- The Yankees had a tough time getting to Cleveland starter Shane Bieber. The former Cy Young winner cruised through four innings giving up just two hits before Willie Calhoun led off the fifth with a solo shot over the right-center field wall. It’s Calhoun’s second home run in as many games.
Jake Bauers, who returned after missing the last couple of games due to injury, hit his first home run as a Yankee two batters later to tie the game at 2-2.
- The Yankees threatened in the eighth inning after Isiah Kiner-Falefa led off with a single and promptly stole second. Kyle Higashioka, after failing to lay the bunt down twice, flew out to deep left-center and was deep enough to advance IKF. Anthony Volpe hit a laser to third base, and Jose Ramirez got IKF, who was running on contact, at home. Volpe reached second on a disengagement violation, but Torres flied out to end the inning.
- In the top of the ninth, Ron Marinaccio got the first two outs before Boone pulled him for Clay Holmes, making his first appearance since blowing Monday's game. Holmes allowed a double to Myles Straw and Oscar Gonzalez hit a pinch-hit bloop single between Harrison Bader and IKF to give Cleveland a 3-2 lead. Bader and IKF slid for the ball, which caused a collision. Bader was removed from the game with an apparent neck injury.
In the bottom of the ninth, Rizzo singled to lead off the inning. Oswald Peraza, pinch-running for Rizzo, stole second but jammed his ankle sliding into the base. He was removed for Aaron Hicks. DJ LeMahieu hit a grounder to first base to advance Hicks to third, and Calhoun tied the game with an opposite-field single.
- After Albert Abreu got the Guardians in the 10th inning without giving up a run, Bauers began the bottom half with a walk. IKF laid down a bunt to put runners on second and third with one out. Jose Trevino pinch-hit for Higashioka and hit a walk-off single to lift the Yankees to a 4-3 win.