Jazz delivers late as Yankees top Dodgers

The Yankees took down the Dodgers 2-1 in nail-biting fashion to avoid being swept. It was a battle of the bullpen game; Ryan Yarbrough took the mound for the Yankees as an opener and faced off against the Dodgers' opener, Will Klein. 

“That was a big win,” Cody Bellinger said. “Obviously a really good team over there. And I mean, pitching was just tremendous today.”

Yarbrough worked a 1-2-3 top of the first inning on just 10 pitches thanks to a nice play at second base from Jazz Chisholm Jr. 

Paul Goldschmidt lined a two-out double into the right-field corner in the bottom half of the first inning. Bellinger followed with an RBI single to give the Yankees an early 1-0 advantage. 

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Yarbrough forced the Dodgers to go three up, three down on just seven pitches, putting together a shutdown top half of the second inning. 

In the top of the third inning, Yarbrough picked up the first two outs, then allowed back-to-back singles to end his night. Paul Blackburn took over and picked up a flyout to end the inning. 

Blackburn came back out for the top of the fourth and faced the minimum thanks to a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play. 

With one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells each worked walks. Wells and Volpe both moved into scoring position thanks to a wild pitch. José Caballero hit a grounder to third base and Volpe was thrown out at the plate. Then Trent Grisham grounded out to end the inning. 

Blackburn remained in the game for the top of the fifth and worked a scoreless inning thanks to a tailor-made 6-4-3 double play. 

Ben Rice and Goldy kicked off the bottom of the fifth inning with back-to-back singles. Belli followed with a single through the left side of the infield for his second knock of the game to load the bases with nobody out. However, Jasson Dominguez struck out, Jazz popped out and Anthony Volpe struck out to strand the bases loaded with nobody out. 

Brent Headrick came in relief for Blackburn in the top of the sixth and worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 inning. Headrick came back out for the top of the seventh inning and retired the side in order. 

“For me, it's just doing whatever I can to help us win,” Headrick said. “So at that point, it is just focusing on each hitter one at a time, day to day, all season long. And I think if we continue to do that, we can do some pretty special things.”

Fernando Cruz got the call for the top half of the eighth inning and immediately allowed a solo shot to Tommy Edman to tie the ballgame. Cruz then walked the No. 8 and 9 hitters to put runners on first and second with one out for Shohei Ohtani. The Yankees closer, David Bednar, took over and struck out Ohtani, then got Andy Pages to pop out to keep the game tied. 

With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Jazz crushed a go-ahead solo home run the other way into the left field stands to put the Yankees in front 2-1. The next batter, Ryan McMahon, just missed a home run of his own as he bounced a ground-rule double into Monument Park. Austin Wells then worked a walk. But Caballero grounded into a fielder's choice and Grisham popped out as the Yankees stranded two more base runners. 

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“Left field's kind of big,” Jazz said. “So I was just hoping like he didn't get a read on it and it got over his head. And then I saw him turn his back, and then I knew it was good.”

Bednar came back out for the top of the ninth and navigated around a leadoff walk to put together a scoreless inning and give the Yankees the win. 

“I love his makeup,” Boone said of Bednar. “I love what he brings and the example he sets. And he just wants to win, and that's apparent.”

The Yankees will begin a new series tomorrow, welcoming the Pirates into the Bronx for a three-game series. Ryan Weathers will get the start for the Yankees and face off against Braxton Ashcraft. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: Great win tonight to avoid being swept. Just a great performance all around from the Yankees bullpen. Yarbrough gave the Yankees exactly what they needed as the opener, picking up eight big outs. Blackburn continues to impress as he picked up seven outs; his ERA is down to 2.08. Headrick picked up six huge outs; his ERA is down to 1.46, and he should have been an All-Star. Cruz didn't have it at all tonight, but thankfully David Bednar picked him up and recorded five outs. Belli kicked off the scoring tonight with an RBI single and reached base three times; it would be nice if he would start to heat back up. Jazz with a huge swing right after Cruz coughed up the Yankees lead. It would be nice if he could heat up going into the final stretch of the season. The Yankees struggle with runners on base quite a bit, leaving 11 runners on base and going 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The Rays were also swept this weekend by the Red Sox, so the Yankees are now only 1.5 games back from the Rays in the AL East with 63 games remaining. On to tomorrow as the Yankees will look to make it two straight wins. 

“I mean overall I thought we swung up pretty well tonight and you know created some opportunities for ourselves,” Bonne said. “But then we got to cash in, though, you know, so fortunately Jazz put one in the seats, but there's a couple of those situations, runner on third, bases loaded, you know, couple times, less than two outs where we've got to get it done there, and we gotta do a better job of that.”