Yankees cap perfect trip to Cleveland with 8-4 victory
- Davis Cornell
- Jun 10
- 4 min read
The Yankees defeated the Guardians to complete the sweep in Cleveland. Carlos Rodon got the starting nod for the Yankees and faced off against Parker Messick.
“Just really good, beating guys in a bunch of different ways,” Trent Grisham said. “It's a really good series overall.”
Cody Bellinger worked a two-out walk in the top of the first inning. But Amed Rosario grounded out to strand Belli.
Angel Martínez led off the bottom half of the first inning with a solo home run to put the Guardians in front 1-0. The Yankees just narrowly avoided disaster as Grisham and José Caballero collided on a flyball to right center, but thankfully they were both fine and Grisham held on for the third out.
The Yankees responded in the top half of the second inning. Grisham led off the frame with a single to right field, Cabby then laid down a perfect bunt single, and both were able to move up to second on a throwing error from Messick, and Grisham moved up to third. Jazz Chisholm Jr. then stayed hot, crushing a two-run triple off the wall in right field to give the Yankees the lead. Another run came across on an E4 to extend the Yankees' lead to 3-1.
Rodon worked a 1-2-3 shutdown bottom of the second inning and recorded his first strikeout of the ballgame.
Rodon walked back-to-back batters to start the bottom of the fourth inning. Both those runners would come around to score on an RBI double from Austin Hedges and a sacrifice fly from Brayan Rocchio to tie the ballgame.
Grisham laced a one-out triple off the wall in right field in the top of the sixth inning. Grisham would just barely score thanks to a great slide on a sacrifice fly from Cabby to give the Yankees the lead. Jazz then worked a walk, and Anthony Volpe drilled an RBI double into the left field corner; Jazz was running on the pitch, allowing him to score easily. Paul Goldschmidt then drilled an RBI single to right-center field to extend the Yankees' lead to 6-3.
Rodon retired the Guardians in order in the bottom of the sixth inning and recorded a pair of strikeouts.
In the top of the seventh, Belli led things off with a double that just stayed fair in left field. Grisham then worked a one-out walk, then they pulled off a double steal to put both runners in scoring position. Cabby lined an RBI single to right field, then Jazz tacked on another run with an RBI fielder's choice to extend the Yankees' lead to 8-3.
Brent Headrick replaced Rodon on the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning and worked a scoreless frame.
Final line for Rodon: Six innings pitched, four hits allowed, three earned runs, walked three, and struck out seven on 96 pitches. He threw his fastball 42% of the time, the sinker 22%, the slider 19%, the changeup 17%, and the curveball 1%. Rodon topped out at 97 mph, averaging 94.6 on his heater, and had 11 whiffs.
“It was good,” Rodon said. “The command was lacking a little bit. Obviously, I wanted to be better and more crisp with some off-speed stuff. But all in all, we won the game, and the boys swung the bat well and played good defense, so it worked out.”
Ryan Yarbrough took over for Headrick in the bottom of the eighth and worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 inning.
Yarbrough remained in the game for the bottom of the ninth inning and allowed a one-out RBI double to Austin Hedges, making it an 8-4 game. Yarbrough then picked up the final two outs thanks to a nice backhanded play from Volpe, then a great throw to third to gun down Hedges for the second out. Followed by a nice leaping catch from Ryan McMahon for the third out to complete the sweep.
The Yankees will now head to Toronto to start a three-game series against the Blue Jays beginning Friday. Ryan Weathers will take the mound on Friday; the Blue Jays starter is still TBD. First pitch is scheduled for 7:37 p.m. ET on the YES Network.
“What, we already knew everybody in this building believes in all the guys that are here,” Grisham said of what he learned about the offense this series. “And that we're just a bunch of really good players. So there's a fun series, and keep it going in Toronto.”
My thoughts on the game: Great win and a great series all around for the Yankees. Rodon was solid, completing six innings for a third straight start. He did walk three batters, but I am not going to complain about a quality start. Headrick was great, as his ERA is down to 1.97. Yarbrough did give up a run, but he picked up six outs to give most of the bullpen some much-needed rest. Great day for the offense all around with 11 hits and eight runs. Goldy, Grisham and Cabby all had multi-hit games. Great day from Jazz with three RBIs; he seems to be turning it on after a very slow start to his season. Grisham's numbers are also starting to round into form; he is up to a .751 OPS. Cabby had a pair of RBIs. I would like to see him move back to shortstop because he does stress me out a little in right field and Volpe really stresses me out at shortstop. Just a fun series all around, as the Yankees finally proved they can beat good teams and did it without Aaron Judge. Of course, the Rays also won, and the Red Sox are completely useless, so the Yankees and Rays remain tied at the top of the AL East. On to Friday, as the Yankees will face a big test in Toronto, where they really struggled last year. I will be in Omaha for the CWS, covering Alabama as long as they are in it, so I might have some shorter recaps over the next few days.
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