Warren shines, Judge and Goldy deliver as Yankees take series in Seattle

Seattle—The Yankees took down the Mariners 3-2 in the rubber match of this three-game series. Will Warren got the start for the Yankees, and Luis Castillo took the mound for the Mariners. 

The first batter of the game, Trent Grisham, was robbed of a home run by Julio Rodriguez, making one of the best catches you will see all year. A couple of batters later, Aaron Judge picked up a two-out line drive single to left field. The next batter, Cody Bellinger, roped a double into the right field corner to extend his hit streak to 10 games in a row, and put two runners in scoring position for Anthony Volpe. Volpe went down on strikes to strand two runners in scoring position. 

Warren retired the Mariners in order in the bottom of the first inning, and picked up his first two strikeouts of the ballgame. 

Warren struck out the Mariners in order in the bottom of the second inning to quickly put his total up to five punchouts in the ballgame. 

Jorbit Vivas led off the top of the third inning with a single on the first pitch. A couple of batters later, Ben Rice lined a single up the middle. But Judge and Beli went down on strikes to strand runners on first and second with one out. 

Rodriguez gave the Mariniers a 2-0 lead thanks to a two-out two-run double, but Grisham prevented further damage with a beautiful diving play to end the third inning. Both runs were unearned due to a costly throwing error from DJ LeMahieu that Ben Rice probably could have caught.

Warren worked around a leadoff hit batter in the bottom of the fourth inning and picked up two more strikeouts to put his total up to eight for the game and tie a career high. 

Ben Rice bounced into an inning-ending double play as the Yankees were held scoreless through five innings. 

Warren picked up his ninth strikeout of the ballgame in the bottom of the fifth inning to set a new career high. 

Volpe cranked a two-out double off the base of the wall in the top of the sixth inning. The next batter, Jasson Dominguez, ripped an RBI double into the right field corner to cut the Mariners' lead in half and make it a 2-1 game. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Tyler Matzek replaced Warren on the mound, picked up the first two outs, and allowed two runners to reach. Ian Hamilton replaced Matzek and picked up the final out of the inning to work out of trouble. 

Will Warren's final line: five innings pitched, three hits allowed, two unearned runs, one walk, and nine strikeouts on 92 pitches. Warren did a great job mixing in all his pitches, he threw his sweeper 29% of the time, fastball 25%, sinker 18%, curveball 14%, and changeup 13% of the time. Warren followed up the best start of his young career last time out in Sacramento by setting a career high with nine strikeouts. 

“Just getting ahead early and attacking the zone,” Warren said on what was working for him today. “As well as just being confident in my stuff.”

Paul Goldschmidt who was hit by a 98 mph fastball on the hand last night, led off the top of the seventh with a pinch-hit solo shot to tie this game up at 2-2, as Goldy’s hand seems to be just fine. 

“Just being ready to go,” Goldy said on his approach when pinch-hitting. “Most of that is just throughout the day. I’m not looking at it like an off day; I'm just ready to come in, whether to hit or for defense. Just do my job and help the team win. It was fun to do that today, and hopefully, I will get some other chance and come through.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone talked about what Goldy brings to the Yankees' lineup.

“It’s just quality at-bats every day; it's elevating our hitting room and culture,” Boone said. “He’s killed lefties obviously, but he’s just you know a really polished hitter that knows how to play the game.”

Hamilton remained in the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, retired the Mariners in order, and picked up two strikeouts. 

In the top of the eighth inning, the captain Judge led off with an absolute bomb 444 feet away to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead, his 11th career home run in Seattle and 15th of the season. 

“I like coming to the West Coast,” Judge said on his success in Seattle. “It’s fun out here. They always have a great crowd, and they're always pretty rowdy. Yankees fans show up in numbers here, so you have to put a show on for the fans.”

Fernando Cruz came in to pitch, replacing Hamilton. Cruz worked into and out of trouble with the help of a big 6-4-3 double play to end the eighth inning. 

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Luke Weaver replaced Cruz on the mound. Weaver struck out the side in order to pick up the save and give the Yankees a 3-2 win as well as the series win. 

The Yankees will head back to the Bronx and start a new series Friday against the sellout himself, Juan Soto, and the Mets for a three-game Subway Series. Carlos Rodon will get the start for the Yankees, and Tylor Megill will take the ball for the Mets. The first pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

“It’s going to be fun,” Judge said on the Subway Series. “You know, two of the best teams in baseball are going after it. It’s going to be an exciting weekend, that’s for sure.”

My thoughts on the game: Warren had another great start. He set a career high with nine strikeouts and lowered his ERA to 4.17 on the season after two great starts in a row. Goldy Knocks and Judge continue to mash as they launched huge home runs to tie the game and give the Yankees the lead late. The bullpen was also great, as Matezek, Hamilton, Cruz, and Weaver combined for four shutout innings with six strikeouts, and the Yankees' pitching staff had 15 total punchouts today. Thankfully, that will do it for the Yankees' West Coast trip, as they finished 4-2 against the A’s and Mariners, no more late 9:40 p.m. start times until they go to LA for their final West Coast trip of the season later this month. Now it’s time to focus on taking two out of three from the Mets this weekend.