Daily Report – 8/17/26
Yankees
Ben Rice grabbed the headlines, but José Caballero made it possible. The Yankees’ 4-3 victory was earned in extra innings, their second on the road this season, thanks to Rice’s 10th-inning home run. But without Caballero, it never would have happened.
At the beginning of the season, when Anthony Volpe was rehabbing, Caballero was about to earn himself the starting shortstop role before breaking his right middle finger. He was booted from the starting shortstop role then, and again last week when the Yankees called up George Lombard Jr.
But Caballero didn’t complain, even though he has only taken seven at-bats in four games since August 8. However, before yesterday, the Yankees had scored just one run in three straight losses, so Aaron Boone shook up the lineup by bumping Trent Grisham, elevating Lombard, and replacing Jazz Chisholm Jr. with Caballero.
Chisholm, 8-for-49 (.163) in his last 15 games, said last week that he doesn’t think sitting out will help him overcome his struggles. But the Yankees’ offense has been so anemic lately that a change was necessary. “[I was] certainly hoping for a spark, and [Caballero] was good,” Boone said.
Yesterday, Caballero did two things Chisholm couldn’t. First, after driving in the go-ahead run with a single in the seventh inning, he intentionally dragged himself into a rundown to get another run home. In baseball, they say you see something new every day, and Caballero’s parkour was exactly that.
First, he ducked and rolled to avoid Charles McAdoo’s tag. Then, he slipped between two infielders and dove back to first base. Unfortunately, video review revealed that Caballero’s tumble was unsuccessful, but the effort was quite commendable.
The second thing he did that Chisholm would not have was bunt in extra innings to advance the inherited runner for Rice, one of the team’s RBI leaders. Of course, Rice did more than plate the inherited runner, but at least Caballero made his life easier.
For years, the Yankees have been criticized for their lack of situational hitting, specifically their inability to play small ball. They have a 3-9 record in extra innings for a reason. But Caballero’s bunt defied the narrative, as did his stolen base in the third inning that allowed him to score the Yankees’ first run. The Yankees totaled four stolen bases off Alejandro Kirk yesterday.
“I always try to help my team in any way possible and see any opportunity that is out there to take advantage of,” Caballero said. “I was able to take third base on him and make it easier for my teammate behind me to drive me in.”
There was another hero yesterday, though. A player whose achievements this season have often gone unsung. The velocities were down on each of his pitches, but by throwing just five four-seam fastballs, Ryan Weathers only needed 95 pitches to get through 7 1/3 one-run innings.
Somehow, Weathers outdueled Dylan Cease, whose 2.42 ERA ranks second in the American League. The righty managed 10 strikeouts, but walked three batters, permitted two runs, and couldn’t make it through the seventh inning. Cease was excellent, but Weathers was better.
“I thought it was one of his better strike-throwing games,” Boone said of Weathers, who has allowed one run or fewer in each of his last five starts and three runs in his last 31 2/3 innings. “He never walks a lot of guys, but he can get into some deeper counts and scatter sometimes. Today, he was in the zone a lot, not a lot of wasted pitches.”
Behind Weathers, the Yankees’ defense turned three double plays. In the fifth inning, after the Blue Jays hit consecutive doubles to tie the game, Andrés Giménez hit an innocent ground ball to third base. Ryan McMahon fired it to Rice at first, who saw Daz Cameron take off from second base. Rice threw the ball back across the diamond to McMahon, who tagged Cameron as he kicked his leg sliding into third.
Then, with two outs and runners at the corners in the sixth inning, Weathers turned a 3-0 count against the hard-hitting Kirk into a double play, using his changeup. For the first time in his career, Weathers has used his changeup the most this season, especially against righties, who are hitting .189 against it.
Weathers’ excellence propelled the Yankees into the ninth inning with a 2-1 lead. But with David Bednar on the mound, Josh Smith reached on a fielding error by Ben Rice. Then, Kirk walked, and one out later, both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Ernie Clement forced extra innings with a game-tying sacrifice fly.
In the top of the 10th inning, after Caballero’s sacrifice bunt, Rice hammered a slider 438 feet to right field, bailing himself out after his ninth-inning error, and ending a 10-for-85 slump, including a 5-for-52 (.096) skid in his last 15 games and a 2-for-26 (.077) slump in his last seven.
“Really proud of Ben,” Weathers said. “Obviously, the ninth inning didn’t go how he wanted it to, but staying within the game and putting a big swing on the board for us, that’s huge for him. I think it’s huge for the team. You always love to see stuff like that.”
Added Rice, “The way baseball is, you don’t really have any time to think about anything, especially [when] you have that tough error and then right away, there’s another batter coming up, and you’ve got to be ready for that situation. Then, we get back on offense. I’m hitting second that inning. You don’t really have time to think about it. You’ve just got to be ready.”
In the bottom of the 10th, Tim Hill allowed the Blue Jays’ inherited runner to score, but because the Yankees entered the frame up by two runs, it didn’t matter. It took tremendous effort, but the Yankees managed to overcome adversity and salvage the last game of their three-game series in Toronto.
“This season has tested our character and our resilience, and I think we have a lot of that in that room,” Boone said. “It’s games like this that we continue to find ourselves in, and we’ve just got to keep fighting. Love the fight, and a good way [to enter] the off day.”
In other Yankees news, Cody Bellinger will begin a rehab assignment as soon as Thursday. The Yankees hope he’ll only need to play in two games before he rejoins the Major League club.
The Yankees are off today, but tomorrow night, they will visit Camden Yards for the first of three games against the Baltimore Orioles. Then, they will return home for a 10-game homestand against Toronto, Houston, and Boston.
Cover Image Courtesy: New York Yankees
