Yankees' Jose Trevino Hits Walk Off For Series Win

The New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians in 10 innings, 4-3, on a rainy night at Yankee Stadium. With the victory, the Yankees took two out of three against their 2022 ALDS opponent, and won the season series, four games to two.

What started as an ugly game that looked to have a frustrating ending turned into a game that could add much-needed momentum to the Bronx Bombers. New York overcame shoddy defense in the first inning, a controversial pitching change in the ninth inning, and game-ending injuries to two players, ultimately walking it off on a pinch-hit single by Jose Trevino in the tenth inning.

Walk-Off Wednesday from @HipHipJose5 🙌 pic.twitter.com/lpJnZwqFj3
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 4, 2023

The Yankees put themselves in a hole early, with the top of the first being plagued by poor defense. Clarke Schmidt allowed a single to Steven Kwan to lead off the game, before inducing a tailor-made double play ball off the bat of Amed Rosario. However, although Kwan was forced out, a bad, high throw by Gleyber Torres allowed Rosario to reach. This was further compounded by Jose Ramirez reaching on an error by Anthony Rizzo; Rizzo initially made a nice stab at the ball, but then dropped it out of his glove.

These two mistakes opened the door for two unearned runs. Schmidt struck out Josh Naylor for the second out, but then gave up RBI singles to Josh Bell and Andres Gimenez, giving the Guardians an early 2-0 lead.

Schmidt’s pitch count was inflated due to the extra outs. Coupled with him getting in and out of trouble over the next few innings, he would throw 79 pitches in just 4.1 innings. But despite allowing six hits and two walks, he wouldn’t allow another run and struck out four. In the end, Schmidt, who had struggled greatly entering this start, finished with a no-decision.

The Yankees were able to stay in the game by squashing a pair of Guardian rallies. Schmidt allowed singles to Myles Straw and Kwan in the second inning, putting runners at the corners with one out. But Schmidt buckled down and got a huge strikeout of Rosario, before getting Ramirez to fly out to end the inning. In the third inning, Schmidt walked Naylor and Bell before getting Gimenez to ground into a double play; he successfully stranded Bell at third by getting Will Brennan to line out to center.

In the fifth inning, Schmidt was pulled for Ian Hamilton after allowing a one-out single to Ramirez. Hamilton promptly picked off J-Ram at first, and then struck out Naylor for the third out.

Entering the bottom of the fifth inning, the Yankee lineup couldn’t do anything against Guardians ace Shane Bieber; they had only mustered two hits (both singles), and only sent 13 batters to the plate. But suddenly, the long ball started working for the Bronx Bombers. Willie Calhoun led off the inning with his second homer in as many games to cut the deficit in half. One out later, Jake Bauers came to the plate for his second at-bat in a Yankee uniform. In a six-pitch at-bat, Bauers hit a no-doubter into the short porch to tie the game, picking up his first Yankee hit in the process.

Hamilton and Jimmy Cordero retired the Guardians in order in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively. In the eighth inning, Ron Marinaccio entered after Cordero gave up a leadoff single to Rosario. He retired Ramirez before allowing Rosario to steal second, but held him there by striking out Naylor and retiring Bell.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees wasted a prime opportunity to take the lead. Isiah Kiner-Falefa led off with a single, immediately stole second, and advanced to third on Kyle Higashioka’s flyout. But with the infield drawn in for a play at the plate, Anthony Volpe hit a ground ball to Ramirez, who gunned down Kiner-Falefa at home. Volpe himself moved into scoring position by inducing a disengagement violation from Bieber, but was stranded when Torres flew out to center for the third out.

The ninth inning saw disaster strike constantly for the Yankees. Marinaccio retired the first two batters, but Yankee manager Aaron Boone followed with a highly questionable pitching change, removing the cruising Marinaccio for Clay Holmes, who was struggling immensely during the season and had blown the series opener on Monday. Straw greeted him with a bloop to center; Kiner-Falefa, who was playing his first game in left field, failed to make a sliding catch, allowing the speedy Straw to pick up a hustle double. Pinch-hitter Oscar Gonzalez followed with another bloop to center, but both Harrison Bader and Kiner-Falefa went for the ball and failed to catch it, allowing Straw to score and put Cleveland up, 3-2. To make matters worse, Bader, who dove for the ball, accidentally was kneed in the head by Kiner-Falefa (who again tried to make a sliding catch) and had to be taken out of the game. Bader had just made his season debut on Tuesday before getting hurt on Wednesday; Oswaldo Cabrera was put in left field, with Kiner-Falefa moving to center.

Holmes retired Kwan for the third out, but the Guardians now sent their all-world closer, Emmanuel Clase, to pick up the save after eight strong innings from Bieber. Rizzo led off with a key single, but the injury bug would bite the Yankees yet again. Oswald Peraza came in to pinch-run for Rizzo and successfully stole second, but rolled his ankle in the process and had to be taken out of the game. This further depleted the Yankee bench (Aaron Hicks replaced Peraza), and further frustrated a fanbase whose team has been ravaged by injuries over the first month of the season.

However, the Yankees proceeded to show their resolve. A groundout by DJ LeMahieu advanced Hicks to third, and Calhoun delivered another clutch hit with a game-tying RBI single to left. After a double-play ball by Cabrera, the game went into extra innings.

Albert Abreu entered to pitch the tenth for the Yankees, with Kwan automatically placed on second base. He struck out Rosario on three pitches before intentionally walking Ramirez to set up a potential double play. That was exactly what Abreu got, as Torres made a slick play on Naylor’s ground ball to start a 4-6-3 double play. Abreu eventually earned the win.

In the bottom of the tenth, the Yankees would win it against Trevor Stephan. With Cabrera automatically placed on second, Bauers worked a leadoff walk and Kiner-Falefa executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance both runners. Trevino then came off the bench to pinch hit for Higashioka; despite falling behind in the count 0-2, the Yankee catcher delivered with a line drive to center field, scoring Cabrera and winning the game. It was Trevino’s third walk-off with the Yankees, after a pair of walk-offs in 2022.

After an off-day on Thursday, the Yankees will play a crucial series against the first-place Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend at Tropicana Field. First pitch is on Friday at 6:40 pm ET.

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