Yankees bounce back behind Yarbrough’s gem and DJ’s four-hit night

Los Angeles—The Yankees avoided being swept with a 7-3 win over the Dodgers. Ryan Yarbrough took the mound for the Yankees, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto got the start for the Dodgers. 

Trent Grisham lined a one-out single in the left-center gap for the first hit of the game in the top of the first. A couple of batters later, Ben Rice worked a two-out walk. The next batter, Jasson Dominguez, got the scoring started with an RBI single the other way to make it 1-0 Yankees. 

In the bottom of the first inning, Yarbrough worked an easy 1-2-3 inning against his former team, the Dodgers. 

In the bottom of the second inning, Andy Pages picked up a double but was immediately erased on a perfect throw by Austin Wells, gunning down Pages trying to steal third. The next batter, Tommy Edman, went deep to tie things up at 1-1. 

Aaron Judge worked a walk to lead off the top of the third inning, the next batter, Rice, launched a two-run home run to straight away centerfield, giving the Yankees the lead right back at 3-1, his 13th of the year. Anthony Volpe then fought off a single to right field on a beautiful piece of hitting. The next batter, Wells, lined a single to right field, allowing Volpe to go first to third; Volpe then came across to score on a wild pitch to make it a 4-1 game. 

Yarbrough retired the Dodgers in order on just 11 pitches in the bottom of the third inning. 

In the top of the fifth inning, Dominguez worked a leadoff walk, then immediately stole second base, his eighth of the season. A couple batters later, Wells worked a walk of his own, DJ then dunked in a RBI single to left field to make it 5-1, his second hit of the night. Oswald Peraza followed that up with an RBI single of his own to make it 6-1. 

Cody Bellinger pinch hit for Dominguez in the top of the sixth and was hit by a pitch. Dominguez left the game with a left thumb contusion. I’m assuming it happened earlier when he slid into second base stealing, hopefully not an IL situation. 

“I don't think there is much concern, just a left thumb contusion,” Dominguez said. “So we're going to see tomorrow how I feel, but right now I think there's nothing to worry about… It was when I hit the base, when I was stealing the base.”

Yarbrough retired Shohei Ohtani for the third time tonight to lead off the bottom of the sixth, as he retired the top of the Dodgers' order in order and picked up two strikeouts to complete six innings of one-run ball against the defending World Series champs. 

Jonathan Loáisiga replaced Yarbrough on the mound in the bottom half of the seventh inning and served up a solo home run to Pages to make it a 6-2 game. A couple of batters later, Max Muncy also took Loáisiga deep to cut the Yankees' lead in half and make it a 6-3 game. 

Ryan Yarbrough's final line: six innings pitched, four hits allowed, one earned run, zero walks, a season high 17 swing and misses, and five strikeouts on 93 pitches to lower his ERA to 2.83. Yarbrough threw his cutter 37% of the time, the sweeper 24%, the sinker 15%, the changeup 13%, and the fastball 12% of the time. Another great start for Yarbrough, giving the Yankees a much-needed good start, trying to avoid their first sweep of the season. 

“Yeah, I think we had a really good game plan,” Yarbrough said. Between the coaching staff and me and Wells. So, it's just a matter of execution and keeping them off balance and not putting them in counts where they can hunt for certain pitches, so just really trying to attack the guys and stay ahead.”

Devin Williams came in to replace Loáisiga on the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning, and retired the Dodgers in order, picking up two strikeouts in the process. 

Beli worked a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth inning, then stole second base a couple of pitches later. A couple of batters later, DJ picked up a RBI double to add a big insurance run and make it 7-3. DJs fourth hit of the game that would have been a home run in 21 out of 30 MLB ballparks. 

“Yeah, I feel good, it's good to get some results, and obviously a great win today,” DJ said. “Just continuing to make adjustments and trying to put myself in the best position, but like I said, it's nice to get some results.”

Tim Hill came into pitch in the bottom of the ninth, replacing Williams, and retired the Dodgers in order to end this one 7-3, as well as salvage the final game of the series for the Yankees. 

The Yankees will have an off day tomorrow, then start a new series Tuesday in the Bronx against the Guardians in an ALCS rematch. Carlos Rodon will get the nod for the Yankees, and Tanner Bibee will get the start for the Guardians. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network.

My thoughts on the game: first off, I hope Dominguez is ok, he left the game with a left thumb contusion, which doesn't sound serious, but a toe contusion to Judge from stupid Dodgers stadium kept Judge out for three months in 2023, so I have some PTSD. Yarbrough was also awesome yet again as he out pitched Yamamoto in every way possible to help avoid being swept. The Yankees are the only team in the MLB who haven't been swept this year. DJ throwing it back to his 2019 form tonight with a four-hit performance, buying himself a couple more months on this roster. Also, Jazz Chislom Jr. and Fernando Cruz will both be activated off the IL on Tuesday. Jazz will be moving back to third base to make room for DJ at second base. On to Tuesday, as the Yankees will look to take two out of three from the Guardians, they will then take on the Red Sox for the first time this year over the weekend.