New York Yankees Complete Successful West Coast Road Trip
The New York Yankees faced one of their biggest tests of the season, with a six-game road trip, all on the West Coast.
From May 29-31, they would play the Seattle Mariners in a three-game set, and from June 2-4, they would play a highly anticipated three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
It would be a true test for the Yankees, who were not only finding their form but also had important reinforcements on the way; Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson, and Tommy Kahnle would all return from injury in the series at Chavez Ravine. Although the Mariners had a struggling offense, they boasted one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, while the Dodgers were one of the strongest teams in the majors and led the National League West.
The Yankees would go on to take two of three at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, even without Anthony Rizzo in the lineup due to a neck injury and another injury to Harrison Bader. The offense fired on all cylinders in both wins, scoring 10 runs in each.
In Game 1, the Bronx Bombers teed off against Mariners prospect Bryce Miller, who had an ERA below two entering the series. An RBI double by Jake Bauers in the second inning opened the scoring; although the Mariners tied it up in the bottom of the inning, New York took the lead for good in the third when Aaron Judge hit a screaming line drive off the left field foul pole for a two-run home run.
Both teams traded solo shots in the fourth, with Bauers and Julio Rodriguez each going yard. But the Yankees broke the game open in the fifth, with Willie Calhoun and Isiah Kiner-Falefa hitting a pair of two-run doubles to knock Miller out of the game. Seattle got two of those runs back when Rodriguez picked up a two-run single, but Domingo German and the Yankee bullpen wouldn’t allow any more runs.
Judge hit his second homer of the game in the sixth, and Kyle Higashioka’s bases-loaded single in the ninth concluded the scoring at 10-4. Judge added a home run robbery for good measure, making a spectacular leaping grab to take one away from Teoscar Hernandez.
Game 2 was even more lopsided, as New York raced out to a 7-0 lead on the way to a 10-2 victory. The Yankees put up three in the first, loading the bases before IKF’s single scored two and Bauers’ sacrifice fly scored another. A three-run home run by Anthony Volpe in the third inning made it 6-0 Yankees, and Greg Allen hit his first homer in pinstripes in the fourth to make it 7-0. Seattle starter Logan Gilbert wouldn’t make it into the fifth inning.
Seattle scored two in the fifth off Nestor Cortes Jr. with a pair of RBI doubles, but the bullpen held the Mariners scoreless for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, another home run by Judge in the seventh and another two-run single by Kiner-Falefa in the ninth made it 10-2.
Unfortunately, New York couldn’t complete the sweep in Game 3, as the offense was completely shut down by George Kirby and the Mariner bullpen. Clarke Schmidt had his best start of the season, going 5.2 shutout innings to help keep the game scoreless heading to extra innings. But after the lineup squandered a bases loaded opportunity in the top of the tenth, the Yankee bullpen finally blinked in the bottom of the tenth when Ron Marinaccio gave up a walk-off single to Cal Raleigh.
Nonetheless, the Yankees had plenty of reasons to be optimistic entering their weekend series against the Dodgers, as Stanton, Donaldson, Kahnle, and Rizzo all returned. Donaldson hit a pair of homers in the series opener, while Stanton also went deep. However, these homers wound up being meaningless; the Dodgers exploded for six runs in the bottom of the first against Luis Severino, which effectively decided an 8-4 Dodger victory.
Fortunately, the Yankees bounced back the next day thanks to four homers and a strong outing from Gerrit Cole. Jake Bauers hit a pair of two-run homers against Michael Grove for the first multi-homer game of his career, while Judge hit a solo shot in the sixth. Cole threw only 80 pitches before leaving the game due to cramps, but recorded a quality start and earned the win by allowing just four hits and one run in six innings.
The Dodgers made a serious comeback attempt in the seventh against Wandy Peralta with three straight pinch-hitters reaching base; Michael King then entered with nobody out and runners at the corners, with the Yankees still leading 5-2. King promptly allowed an RBI single to Miguel Rojas to make it 5-3 with still nobody out; to get out of the inning, King would have to face Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith (the top of the lineup and three of the league’s best hitters) as the potential go-ahead run. But the righty buckled down and calmly retired Betts and Freeman on infield lineouts, before striking out Smith to end the threat.
King returned to the mound in the bottom of the eighth, but the inning got off to a bad start when Max Muncy struck out but reached base on a Jose Trevino passed ball. What followed, however, was another web gem by Judge; J.D. Martinez hit a sharp fly ball to right field, but Judge made the catch on the warning track while crashing into the fence with such force that the visitor’s bullpen gate was broken open. Muncy advanced to second on the play, but the play by Judge robbed Martinez of extra bases and a possible RBI, and King got the next two outs to strand Muncy.
Oswaldo Cabrera homered in the ninth for a key insurance run, while Clay Holmes slammed the door to preserve a 6-3 Yankee victory, setting up a rubber game on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. However, the Bronx Bombers would have to win without Judge, as Aaron Boone chose to give him the day off after he suffered a toe injury from his crucial eighth inning catch.
Even without their captain, the Yankees stayed competitive in a hard-fought pitcher’s duel. German dueled Dodger prospect Bobby Miller for six scoreless innings, before the Yankees took the lead on a broken-bat RBI groundout by Higashioka in the seventh.
German would earn a no-decision after allowing a game-tying homer to J.D. Martinez in the bottom half of the seventh, but New York took the lead for good in the eighth. Facing Evan Phillips (who usually is the Dodgers’ closer), Rizzo drew a one-out walk before Stanton lashed a double into the left-center field gap, putting runners on second and third. Cabrera then drove in Rizzo with a groundout, which proved to be the winning margin.
Volpe gave the Yankees some much-needed breathing room with a two-run homer in the ninth, while Peralta, thanks to a key pickoff play on Will Smith at first base, retired the side in order for the series victory.
The successful road trip did come at some costs, as Greg Allen, Harrison Bader, and Nestor Cortes Jr. would all be placed on the IL, while Judge would get an X-Ray on his injured toe. However, the Yankees not only survived, but thrived in one of the most difficult stretches of their season, and have kept themselves in the race in the ultra-competitive American League East.
After a well-earned day off, the Yankees will begin a three-game set in the Bronx on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox. First pitch is at 7:05 pm ET.
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- White Sox Reportedly Shopping Ace, Yankees Should be Interested
- Yankees Place Bader Back on IL
- Ex-MLB Manager Believes Big Changes are Coming for Yankees
