Yankees walk-off in 10th against Guardians as injuries mount
The Yankees will hope Wednesday’s developments were symbolic.
A few hours after general manager Brian Cashman pleaded, “Don’t give up on us,” the Yankees did not give up on themselves after digging both an early and a late hole.
The Yankees might have lost Harrison Bader and Oswald Peraza, both of whom were pulled with injuries, but they did not lose a game.
Led by Willie Calhoun, Jake Bauers and Jose Trevino, the Yankees mounted two separate comebacks to escape with a 4-3, 10-inning win to claim a series victory over the Guardians in front of 36,060 in The Bronx.
“We have a deep enough team,” Calhoun said after he homered and knocked a game-tying single in the bottom of the ninth, “and I feel like everyone’s going to be ready.”
The Yankees (17-15) snapped a three-series losing streak and grabbed some momentum ahead of a faceoff this weekend with the first-place Rays at Tropicana Field.
They did so with excellence from Calhoun and Bauers, two depth outfielders who began the season at Triple-A, which is significant for a team that has lost Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
Willie Calhoun homers for the Yankees on Wednesday. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
Jose Trevino celebrates his walk-off hit against the Guardians on Wednesday. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
After some excellent work from Albert Abreu, who stranded the ghost runner in the top of the 10th, the Yankees walked it off against the Guardians (14-17) in the bottom of the inning.
With Oswaldo Cabrera the ghost runner at second, Bauers drew a walk against former Yankees farmhand Trevor Stephan before Isiah Kiner-Falefa laid down a bunt that advanced both runners.
With one out, Trevino pinch-hit for Kyle Higashioka and singled into center to score the game-winner.
“I was actually in the training room, and I will say he came in probably in the sixth or seventh inning,” Clarke Schmidt (4 ¹/₃ innings in which he allowed two unearned runs) said of Trevino. “He said that he was going to hit a walk-off hit. I gotta give credit to him for calling the shot.”
The game had swung in the top of the ninth, when manager Aaron Boone pulled Ron Marinaccio, who had thrown 23 pitches after he pitched a night prior, for the struggling Clay Holmes.
In a tie game, Holmes allowed a soft double to Myles Straw on a ball that Kiner-Falefa, playing left field for the first time, lost in the lights before pinch-hitter Oscar Gonzalez came through with a literally crushing blow.
Gonzalez blooped a perfectly placed ball into shallow left-center, which forced Bader and Kiner-Falefa to collide. Neither slowed and neither could catch it, the ball falling for a go-ahead, RBI single as Bader’s head crashed into Kiner-Falefa’s side. Bader was replaced by Cabrera.
It was the second difficult outing in a row for Holmes, who had blown a save to open the series.
“Let’s look at what’s going on [with Holmes],” Boone said, defending the ostensible closer who was not crushed. “I mean, the [ball was hit into the] Bermuda Triangle. That’s baseball sometimes.”
The Yankees rallied in the bottom of the inning. Anthony Rizzo led off against Emmanuel Clase with a single up the middle, and Peraza entered as a pinch runner.
Jake Bauers hits a solo homer against the Guardians on Wednesday night. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
He stole second but hurt his ankle on the way and was pulled for Aaron Hicks.
Calhoun then drove a clean single into left to score Hicks and tie the game.
“That’s the hitter he is,” Boone said of Calhoun, whose bat is coming alive after a slow start. “I feel like he can really hit.”
Any win is encouraging, but a victory backed by production from the corner-outfield spots came at an opportune time.
Harrison Bader exited the Yankees’ game against the Guardians on May 3 in the ninth inning with an injury. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The Yankees’ depth has been tested in a major way, particularly since Stanton went down.
Calhoun, serving as the DH, drilled his second home run of the season and in as many nights in the fifth inning, crushing a Shane Bieber cutter to right-center for the first Yankees run of the game.
Two batters later, Bauers, another corner-outfield type, looked at home in his first game in The Bronx as a Yankee.
Appearing for the first time since sliding into the left-field wall in Texas and hurting his knee Saturday, Bauers drilled his first home run of the season over the short porch in right.
The Yankees had escaped a 2-0 hole and later climbed out of a 3-2 deficit in the ninth. As if responding to Cashman, they did not give up.
“Now is that opportunity for some guys. You look for some people to step up,” Boone said.
Source: New York Post
