Daily Report – 8/19/25
Here is today’s report:
Yankees
It really is all right in front of them.
This past weekend, the Yankees swept the St. Louis Cardinals, and they now find themselves tied with Boston for second place in the American League East (five games behind Toronto) and in a three-way tie with Boston and Seattle for the first AL Wild Card spot. With a four-game series against Boston approaching this weekend, plus three more games against them and Toronto in September, the Yankees have an excellent chance at securing not just the first Wild Card spot, but a second consecutive division title. The playoff push starts now.
Brian Cashman traveled with the Yankees to St. Louis this weekend, and he met the media on Friday. “We just need to win,” he said. “Right now, we’re not in control of the division, so our first goal is to try to win the American League East and automatically punch the [playoff] ticket that way. If not, we’ll be fighting to punch a ticket a different way, and there’s a lot of time on the clock, but not enough time at the same time. I don’t want to misrepresent there’s not urgency, because there is.”
On Friday, the Yankees won 4-3 behind 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball by Luis Gil. The Yankees scored three runs in the first inning, highlighted by Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s 21st home run of the season. They added a run in the third but couldn’t score afterward, finishing the night 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position. However, their bullpen held things down, with David Bednar closing things for his 19th save of the season.
On Saturday, the Yankees won 12-8 thanks to a career-high 7 RBI from Ben Rice, who went 3-for-5 with a walk, a double, and a home run. The Yankees got things started early with two runs in the first inning, but Max Fried struggled in his start, allowing eight hits and seven runs, including two home runs. The Yankees were down 5-2 heading into the third inning, but then Aaron Judge hit a solo home run for his 39th of the season. In the fourth inning, Ben Rice crushed a go-ahead three-run bomb to right-center field, giving the Yankees a 6-5 lead. He added a bases-clearing three-run double in the sixth inning to extend his team’s lead to 9-5, and after St. Louis reduced their deficit in the bottom of the sixth, Ryan McMahon hit his first home run as a Yankee.
On Sunday, the Yankees completed the sweep over St. Louis with an 8-4 victory. “We’ve been saying it all year: When we play like we’re supposed to play, these are the results you’re going to get,” said Will Warren, who stumbled through 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs, but only one earned. “We’ve been staying with the process. We haven’t strayed from anything we’ve done. Just head down, keep going, and we’re starting to win again.”
The Yankees took a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning with a few RBI singles, but St. Louis scored twice in the bottom of the third and again in the fifth and sixth innings to take a 4-3 lead. In the seventh inning, Cody Bellinger tied the game with a sacrifice fly, and he recorded the go-ahead hit in the top of the ninth via a two-run infield single.
In his return to St. Louis, Paul Goldschmidt went 3-for-5 with a couple of doubles, including one that put the Yankees ahead 8-4 in the ninth. “These last five or six weeks will tell,” said Goldschmidt after returning to the place he called home for six years. He won an MVP with the Cardinals in 2022. “Obviously, this was a good week for us to win five out of six games, but there’s a lot of tough opponents coming up. We’ll try to play well and keep going. We definitely have a chance. Just try to play well.”
The Yankees demonstrated urgency at the trade deadline when they acquired utility man José Caballero from Tampa Bay. His presence has helped motivate Anthony Volpe to play better, since Caballero is a proven shortstop, and his 39 stolen bases lead all of baseball. Caballero played in each of the Yankees’ games this weekend, and on Sunday, he got the start at shortstop. In Sunday’s ninth inning, he represented the go-ahead run as he reached second base on a fielding error, advanced to third on a passed ball, and scored on Cody Bellinger’s two-run single.
If the Yankees continue to pitch well and score enough runs, there’s no telling what they can accomplish. “This is a very hard sport, and nothing is taken for granted,” Brian Cashman remarked. He later added, “The only thing that’s important to me is [the players] putting a really great performance out on the field on a day-in and day-out basis, because that’s what’s gonna be putting this on overdrive, beginning as to where we need to go.”
Tonight, at 7:35, the Yankees will begin a two-game mini-series against the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field (YES). There is something to be concerned about, though, as Aaron Boone told Jomboy Media that despite soreness, Giancarlo Stanton will play right field tonight because, as he told WFAN today, Aaron Judge is not expected to be able to throw normally at all for the remainder of the season. The Yankees are trying to at least make Judge serviceable in right field, but Stanton’s bat needs to be in their lineup.
The Yankees will send LHP Carlos Rodón (12-7, 3.25 ERA) to the mound tonight against the struggling righty Shane Baz (8-9, 4.93 ERA).
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees:
CF Trent Grisham (L)
DH Aaron Judge (C) (R)
LF Cody Bellinger (L)
RF Giancarlo Stanton (R)
C Ben Rice (L)
1B Paul Goldschmidt (R)
2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L)
SS Anthony Volpe (R)
3B José Caballero (R)
SP: LHP Carlos Rodón (12-7, 3.25 ERA)
Schedule
7:00 PM: NYL vs. MIN; MY9
7:35 PM: NYY at TB; YES; SP: LHP Carlos Rodón (12-7, 3.25 ERA)
