Daily Report – 5/18/26
Yankees
One hanging curveball. The Subway Series came down to one hanging curveball.
Yesterday should have been easy for the Yankees. They were leading 6-3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning when David Bednar hung a curveball to Tyrone Taylor. Despite his .180 batting average, Taylor struck the first pitch he saw into left field. The only question was whether the ball would land to the left or right of the orange foul pole.
Now, imagine sitting behind that left-field foul pole. I knew the inevitable was coming. I saw Taylor’s home run ball soaring through the air, and then I blacked out before watching it bounce around the seats to my left. There was no doubt about it: That ball was fair, and the Mets had tied the game.
The Yankees have dropped three straight series and have fallen to 3-10 in one-run games. Also, they still haven’t won a series at Citi Field since 2018. It is only May, but the division race is tight; the Yankees sit three games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the top spot in the American League.
Playing the Mets, despite their 20-26 record, poses a unique challenge for the Yankees because of how seriously they take the Subway Series. That is not to say the Yankees don’t care about the Subway Series, but the Mets were fighting for their lives; the Yankees are comfortably among the AL leaders.
Three of the Mets’ top pieces — their star outfielder and their two best bullpen arms — used to be Yankees themselves. Juan Soto made his own mark offensively this weekend, although it was the baby Mets, like Carson Benge and AJ Ewing, whose bats cracked the loudest. Meanwhile, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams, who struggled for the Yankees last season, were brilliant on the mound this weekend.
On Saturday, Weaver worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam with nobody out. He did so despite two key Metropolitan defensive errors that the Yankees couldn’t capitalize on. The Yanks left 11 runners on base on Saturday and hit 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position, but Carlos Rodón sealed their fate earlier in the game.
The Yankees’ powerful lefty, whose production has become more important in the wake of Max Fried’s elbow injury (which will sideline him for at least a month), fired a wild pitch in the third inning with the bases loaded and two men out. That allowed one run to score, but Rodón idiotically decided to barehand the ball and throw it back to the plate — wildly, of course — plating another run.
“That was a stupid play,” said Rodón, who lost his command after putting out eight of the first nine batters he faced. “I tried to make a superhero play. That’s one I’ve got to eat. I got a little ambitious with that throw.”
After Saturday’s loss, Jazz Chisholm Jr., who went 7-for-12 (.583) this weekend with two doubles and three walks, made it clear to the media that the Yankees weren’t panicking. And they weren’t… at least until the bottom of yesterday’s ninth inning.
Then, in the top of the 10th, there was Williams, ready to prove his old team wrong. Williams was one of the best relievers in baseball after last season’s All-Star break, but the Yankees decided his four blown saves played a major role in their inability to win their division. Williams closed Saturday’s game and secured the win on Sunday.
The top of the 10th inning started with Max Schuemann, who tried to bunt but ultimately struck out, waving at an excellent airbender. Ryan McMahon, who started the inning at second base, subsequently stole third, and Anthony Volpe walked, setting the table for Austin Wells.
Wells has struggled immensely this season, batting .173 with three home runs and five RBI. Last week, I wrote about how his expected RBI total this season is 53.5 runs short of the 71 he recorded last season. He is also batting 2-for-23 (.087) with 0 RBI and 11 strikeouts in his last seven games.
Wells’s fate took a turn for the worse in yesterday’s 10th inning as he grounded the first pitch he saw, a high fastball, into an inning-ending double play. The Yankees’ catcher was begging for a changeup, but Williams fooled him. It was a brutal end to an inning in which the Yankees had no excuse to strand their ghost runner.
“I was looking for something up in the zone to get a ball in the air,” Wells claimed. “It was a little above the zone, [so] I don’t really know how I hit it on the ground. Was looking to move the runner and drive them in.”
In the bottom of the 10th inning, with Tim Hill on the mound, the young Ewing showed he could bunt, advancing Marcus Semien to third base. Then, Hill plunked Luis Torrens, putting runners at the corners for Benge. Hill’s strength is his ability to generate ground balls, and on his second pitch to Benge, he did just that.
However, five infielders proved to be too many cooks for the Yankees, as Volpe collided with Schuemann while attempting a throw to home plate. Nobody was covering second base, and the Yankees couldn’t turn two; all the more reason to point to the lack of communication that ensued in the infield.
“I was just going to be aggressive,” Schuemann said. “We have to be quick. Tough play at the plate either way. I talked to Volpe about it. It’s just one of those things that we’re both going to be aggressive to that baseball no matter what. We both want to make a play.”
All weekend long, the Mets botched play after play after play. They overcame their transgressions, though, and the Yankees could not have picked a worse time to join the blunder party. For the first time in 96 games, the Mets overcame a ninth-inning deficit. Meanwhile, the Yankees fell to 0-3 in extra innings this season.
At the plate, Volpe had an excellent weekend. In fact, yesterday was supposed to be his big game, highlighted by a two-run single in the sixth inning and a bases-loaded walk in the seventh. Volpe is fighting to regain his job as the Yankees’ starting shortstop, yet he showed excellent composure by walking seven times in three games.
“That’s the guy we know,” Aaron Judge said. “That’s why he’s been our shortstop for the last couple of seasons. When we need him in a big spot, he comes up big for us.”
However, in a definitive moment, Volpe mishandled a key defensive play. It wasn’t all his fault, although the baseball landed closer to Schuemann.
“Couple close games, but it’s just about finishing the job,” said manager Aaron Boone, who remains confident in his closer, Bednar, his catcher, Wells, and everybody else on this team. “A couple of games here where we’ve got to close it out, or some games in extras where we’ve got to get a couple runs across, and just don’t get the job done.
“The boys are playing hard, though, that’s the biggest thing. Guys are playing tough and making the plays they need to, but just coming up a little bit short. We’ve got to have a short memory and move on and get ready for the [homestand] because we’ve got a big division opponent coming in.”
That they do.
The Yankees couldn’t figure out the Toronto Blue Jays last season, and it cost them in the playoffs. Like the Mets, the Blue Jays will play the Yankees tough despite their losing record. Toronto is 21-25 and ranks 6.5 games behind the Yankees in the division standings, but they are coming off a big series win against Detroit.
Toronto has prepared a tough slab of starting pitching for the first three games of this week’s four-game set in the Bronx. Left-hander Patrick Corbin will start tonight, long-time zone-pounder Dylan Cease will go tomorrow, and last year’s rookie sensation, Trey Yesavage, will mind the rubber on Wednesday.
Then, the division-leading Rays will visit the Stadium on Friday for a three-game weekend series.
Tonight, at 7:05 PM, the Yankees will send LHP Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.00 ERA), coming off an extra day of rest, against the southpaw Patrick Corbin (1-1, 3.93 ERA) (YES, Gotham Sports).
Schedule
7:05 PM: NYY vs. TOR; YES, Gotham Sports; SP: LHP Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.00 ERA) vs. LHP Patrick Corbin (1-1, 3.93 ERA)
