Yankees nearly blow a nine-run lead but escape with a 10-9 win

Minnesota—The Yankees took down the Twins 10-9 in a game that looked like a laugher at one point ended up being a nail-biting finish. Cam Schlittler got the starting nod for the Yankees and faced off against Zebby Matthews. 

Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge got things started with back-to-back singles. A couple of batters later, Cody Bellinger picked up an RBI single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead, as the Yankees already have more hits and runs than yesterday. Giancoralo Stanton followed that up with a sacrifice fly to make it a 2-0 game. 

Cam got two outs on two pitches, then proceeded to walk back-to-back hitters, then surrendered an RBI single to Royce Lewis to make it a 2-1 game. 

After a couple of games off for Anthony Volpe, he lined a one-out double into the right-center gap in the top of the second inning. Austin Wells followed that up by just missing a home run to the deepest part of the yard, but did pick up an RBI double to make it a 3-1 game. The next batter, Grisham, crushed a two-run bomb, his 31st home run of the year, to extend the Yankees' lead to 5-1. Judge then worked a walk, and Ben Rice dunked in a bloop single to right field. A couple of batters later, Stanton lined an RBI single to right, making it a 6-1 game. 

Ryan McMahon led off the top of the third inning with a bloop single to center field, Volpe then worked a walk, and Austin Wells dunked in a single to left field to load the bases with nobody out. The next batter, Grisham, made it a 7-1 ballgame via a sacrifice fly. Judge followed that up with a sacrifice fly of his own to make it an 8-1 game. Rice then lined an RBI double into the right field corner, to make it a 9-1 ballgame. 

In the bottom of the third inning, Cam worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 inning to make it seven straight hitters retired. 

Jazz Chichsolm Jr. roped a single to right field, as every Yankee in the lineup has a hit in 3.1 innings. A couple of batters later, Volpe shot an RBI single to right field, making it a 10-1 game. 

"Same stuff. Just finding moves that work and feel good. And yeah, it helps when you feel better," Volpe said.

Cam served up a long two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to James Outman to cut the Yankees' lead to 10-3. Byron Buxston then came across to score on a wild pitch from Cam, making it a 10-4 game. Fernando Cruz replaced Cam on the mound and induced a groundout to strand runners at the corners. 

Cam Schlittler's final line: 4.2 innings pitched, three hits allowed, four earned runs, five walks, 10 swings and misses, and six strikeouts on 89 pitches. Cam threw his fastball 43% of the time, the cutter 25%, the curveball 20%, and the sinker 12% of the time. Cam didn't have his best stuff tonight; he retired 11 straight hitters before that Outman home run, but his command was all over the place from the start, leading to five walks. Tonight's start may have hurt Cam's chances of starting game three in a playoff series, as Cam and Luis Gil are battling for that spot. 

"I expect them to play huge roles for us here down the stretch for what we hope is an October run," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on Cam and Gil. 

“I think the command was a little bit shaky early on,” Cam said. “I was able to get out of it in the first, kind of getting in a little bit of a rhythm after that, and I think, just, you know, let up the home run there and then try to get to picky there when you're up, you know, eight runs. So it's embarrassing, but you got to get in the zone, especially with that lead.”

Ryan Yarbrough took over for Cruz on the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning and immediately served up a leadoff double. The next batter, Mickey Gasper, lined an RBI single up the middle to cut the Yankees' lead in half and make it a 10-5 game. Ryan Fitzgerald followed that up with a two-run home run to put the Twins right back in this game, making it a 10-7 ballgame. Mark Leiter Jr. took over for Yarbrough and gave up a sacrifice fly toTrevor Larnach to make it a 10-8 game, as what was once a nine-run game is now a two-run game. 

Leiter remained in the game for the bottom of the seventh inning and retired the Twins in order. 

In the top of the eighth inning, Judge worked a leadoff walk, then moved up to second base thanks to a wild pitch. Judge then attempted to steal third base and was thrown out. 

Devin Williams took over for Leiter on the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning and worked an easy 1-2-3 inning with a pair of punch outs. 

Big-G led off the top of the ninth inning with a sharply hit single to left field. José Caballero, who pinch ran for Stanton, swiped second base, his 47th stolen base of the year. However, McMahon grounded out and Volpe struck out to strand Caballero. 

The Yankees' closer, David Bednar, was called upon to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning and served up a solo home run to Larnach to make it a 10-9 game. Bednar then picked up the final couple of outs to end a stressful one. 

The Yankees will look for the series win tomorrow with Luis Gil on the mound, facing off against Taj Bradley. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. ET on Prime Video. 

My thoughts on the game: That game was way more stressful than it had to be. Cam didn't have his best stuff tonight, and Yarbrough's coming in only made matters worse, as he gave up four runs. The offense was great for the first four innings, then went quiet for the last five innings. Grisham had a great night with two hits, three RBIs, and a home run. Stanton had a solid night with a couple of knocks and two RBIs. Rice had three hits tonight and an RBI. Volpe, in his first start in almost a week, had two hits and an RBI. Altogether, the offense had 10 runs and 16 hits. Williams looked nasty in the eighth inning, and Bednar closed this one out. On to tomorrow as the Yankees will look to win the series. 

"It's tough to watch on the side-," Volpe said. "I mean, a lot of credit goes to training staff and Booney, trying to just manage as best we can, and it's just good to get out here and help the team win."