Anthony Volpe returns with a bang as Yankees sweep Rockies

The Yankees dismantled the Rockies 10-3 to complete the sweep behind a big return to the Bronx from Anthony Volpe. Max Fried took the mound for the Yankees and faced off against Ryan Feltner.

“I thought I was never going to be back up here,” Volpe said. “So I'm trying to make the most of it.”

Fried worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 top of the first inning and recorded his first two strikeouts of the night. During the roll call from the Bleacher Creatures, it seemed like the Volpe chants were extra loud. 

“I mean, it means the world,” Volpe said. “Best fans in the world for sure, so pretty crazy.” 

Ben Rice led off the bottom of the first inning with a single. Then Luis Garcia Jr. sent a two-run bomb into Monument Park for his 30th home run of the year to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the first. 

The Rockies got a run back in the top of the second inning thanks to a no-doubt shot from Kyle Karros to cut the Yankees' lead to 2-1. 

Ryan McMahon led off the bottom of the second inning with a rocket single off the wall in right field. Then Austin Wells worked a four-pitch walk. Volpe followed with an RBI single to left field in his first at-bat since being recalled from Triple-A yesterday. Cody Bellinger extended the Yankees' lead to 4-1 via a sacrifice fly. 

It looked like Fried induced a groundout to end the top of the third, but a low throw from Ryan McMahon kept the inning alive. But no harm, no foul, as Fried induced a groundout to shortstop to work a shutdown inning. 

In the top of the fourth inning, Fried walked the leadoff batter, then notched his seventh strikeout of the game to end his night. Michael Fulmer took over and picked up the final two outs of the inning. 

Final line for Fried: 3.1 innings pitched, one hit allowed, one earned run, walked two, and struck out seven on 80 pitches. He threw his cutter 30% of the time, the sinker 21%, the curveball 19%, the sweeper 13%, the changeup 10%, and the fastball 8%. Fried topped out at 93.7 mph, which is 1.2 mph down from his yearly average of 94.9 mph on his heater, and had 11 whiffs. 

“Still going to be building up, and we're looking forward to having me completely built up for the end of the season in the playoffs,” Fried said. “They've had a plan, as much as I would love to fast-forward the plan and just say, let's throw it all out the window. They've got a lot of really smart people who work really hard here to try to make sure that I'm going to be healthy for when it matters most, so trust in them, and I'm just excited to be able to go make my next start.” 

John Schreiber replaced Fulmer in the top of the fifth and navigated around a walk to put together a scoreless inning. Schreiber came back out for the top of the sixth and picked up the first out before Ryan Yarbrough and recorded the final two outs of the inning. 

Yarbrough came back out for the top of the seventh and picked up the first two outs thanks to a nice sliding catch from Spencer Jones. Then Yarbrough walked the No. 9 hitter to end his night; Brent Headrick replaced him and allowed an RBI to Jake McCarthy to cut the Yankees' lead to 4-2. 

The Yankees got that run right back and some. As Cody Bellinger laced his second double of the game off the right-field wall, Jasson Dominguez followed with a walk, then Belli and Dominguez pulled off a double steal to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Jones came through with a two-run single, his third hit of the night to extend the Yankees' lead to 6-2. 

Austin Wells worked a walk to load the bases with two outs for Volpe. Volpe sent a grand slam into the short porch in right field to extend the Yankees' lead to 10-2 and give him a three-hit night in his return to the big leagues. There was no one more excited in the dugout than George Lombard Jr., who took Volpe's job at shortstop back at the beginning of August. Volpe also received a well-deserved curtain call from the Bronx faithful. 

“Just an amazing feeling, had a good approach and just tried to take advantage,” Volpe said. “That's what it's all about. That's why you do it.”

Luis Gil got the call for the top of the eighth and allowed a run due to an error from Dominguez out in right field, cutting the Yankees' lead to 10-3. Gil came back out for the top of the ninth and gave up three straight singles to load the bases with nobody out. But Gil settled in and picked up a couple of flyouts and a strikeout to work into and out of trouble, stranding the bases loaded with nobody out. 

“I mean, these are big games for us, right into the mix, and I just want to try to contribute,” Volpe said. 

The Yankees will begin a new series tomorrow as they will welcome their crosstown rivals the Mets into the Bronx. Carlos Rodon will get the starting nod and face off against Nolan McLean. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: What a return for Volpe tonight, with three hits, a grand slam and a career-high five-RBI night. That grand slam may have been the most hyped I have been all year long; that and the Judge walk-off bomb against the Rays are neck and neck. I hope this is the beginning of his revenge tour. Most of the Yankees fanbase, myself included, has been extremely hard on the kid, but I think that's because we all know how talented he can be. Fried had an odd start tonight; it felt like there were a lot of three-ball counts and he had seven strikeouts, so with him being on a pitch count, he wasn't able to go deep into the game. His velocity was also noticeably down; I really hope he's not pitching hurt. Fulmer and Schreiber combined for two scoreless innings; those two have been nice additions to the bullpen. Yarbrough picked up four runs, but did allow a run. Headrick didn't have his best stuff tonight, but tonight was the perfect night to not have it. Strange night for Gil: he allowed four hits and walked a batter, but put together two scoreless innings. Belli had a great night with a pair of doubles. I feel like I have said this 10 times since he returned from the IL; it's been so nice having him back. Garcia reached the 30-home-run milestone for the first time in his career; he has been such a great addition to this offense. Jones had a three-hit night; he just hits rockets every time he connects with the baseball. Just a great night all around for the Yankees offense with 11 hits and 10 runs. The Yankees also picked up a game on the Rays as they lost to the Braves today, meaning the Yankees are now just 3.0 games back of first place in the AL East with 16 games to play, technically 4.0 since the Rays have the tiebreaker. On to tomorrow, as the Yankees have to win this upcoming series against the Mets.

“I don't know if it's validating, but it took a lot, and it's going to keep taking a lot,” Volpe said. “I think that's my mindset, definitely no finish lines, and we got a lot of big games coming up, so just keep going.”