Daily Report – 8/31/26
Yankees
16 runs are a lot of runs.
Yesterday, everything went right for the Yankees. They destroyed the Red Sox, 16-1. Will Warren saved the bullpen with seven one-run innings. And with the win, the Yankees secured the season series crown, clinching home-field advantage in a potential playoff series against Boston if a tiebreak becomes necessary.
Between Thursday’s game and the first game on Saturday, the Yankees went 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position, scoring two runs in three contests. But in their last two games, they are 11-for-22 with 25 runs. It’s a remarkable improvement, but not long ago, it felt impossible.
Heliot Ramos has been a key part of the turnaround. This Yankees team owns a .716 OPS against righties and a .730 mark against lefties, but they were built to be even stronger against left-handed pitching. Without Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton, their biggest right-handed contributors, the team has fallen off against southpaws.
Other than Paul Goldschmidt, who owns a .307 average and a 1.008 OPS against lefties this season, the Yankees don’t have much right-on-left power in their lineup. That was why Brian Cashman acquired Ramos at the deadline, but before yesterday, he was 7-for-59 (.119) as a Yankee.
The main reason for his disappointing numbers was that, without Cody Bellinger, Ramos began his time in pinstripes as a starting outfielder. So, he had to face both righties and lefties, and the Yankees just finished a multi-week stretch in which they exclusively faced right-handed starters.
Since Bellinger returned from the injured list last week, Ramos’s role has become clearer. In his last seven games, he has a .267 batting average and a .983 OPS. He has reached base in eight of his last 12 plate appearances.
Yesterday, before Warren pitched into the eighth inning for the first time this season, and the offense crafted a nine-run frame, Ramos had his first big Yankees moment. In the fifth inning, with the Yankees up 2-0 on a two-run single that Goldschmidt squeezed up the middle, Ramos drilled a 416-foot, three-run home run to left field.
The blast was Ramos’s first as a Yankee, and it could not have come at a better time. It was ‘Yankees-Red Sox,’ the greatest rivalry in sports, with postseason home-field advantage on the line. Ramos met the moment, and as he rounded the bases, the giant smile on his face said it all.
“I’m an emotional guy,” Ramos said. “I’m always showing what I’ve got in my heart. It feels really good to produce for this team, to be a part of this team, and get things done.”
Manager Aaron Boone added, “I thought he was going to do a cartwheel around third.”
After the Yankees’ five-run fifth inning, Warren got into some trouble in the sixth. Roman Anthony singled, and one out later, Wilyer Abreu put two runners on base for Willson Contreras, Boston’s best hitter. But Contreras, who landed on the injured list today with a hamstring strain, grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Of course, the Yankees didn’t know he was battling an injury. After the double play, Warren was fired up. Behind him, the offense tacked on a sixth run in the sixth inning, via a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Austin Wells.
Warren, riding high, worked a one-two-three seventh inning before Amed Rosario made it 7-0 with a single in the bottom of the frame.
Warren gave up a double and a run-scoring single in the eighth, ending his afternoon. Behind him, Tim Hill forced Anthony to ground into a double play, and Ceddanne Rafaela grounded out to end the inning.
“I knew we were short [in the bullpen], but I think every week, I just go out there and try to get as many outs as possible,” Warren said. “So, that was my goal today: No matter what happens, just keep getting outs.”
Rewinding to the sixth inning for a moment… Before Wells made it 6-0 with a sacrifice fly, Jazz Chisholm Jr. lifted a fly ball toward Rafaela in right-center field. Rafaela drifted to his left, and as he dove to make the catch, the umpires ruled that the ball had touched the grass.
This angered Red Sox fans everywhere, who argued that Rafaela had secured the ball cleanly before it hit the ground. In fact, even Boston’s radio announcers were so bitter about it that they took their anger out on Chisholm in the eighth inning, when he stole second and third base up 7-1, calling him a “bush league player” who “doesn’t play the game the right way.”
But the ruling on Rafaela’s play would not have changed the result. The Yankees were already leading 5-0. It isn’t their fault the Red Sox couldn’t pitch their way out of trouble. And it isn’t Chisholm’s fault Jovani Morán didn’t even attempt to throw him out in the eighth.
Chisholm became the first Yankee since Brett Gardner in 2011 to steal 40 bases in a single season. After stealing third, Wells connected with a middle-in cutter for a two-run bomb, putting the Yankees ahead 9-1. Before that, Boston’s radio booth suggested Morán should drill Wells or fight Chisholm.
So, the blows kept on coming. On the first pitch after Wells’s homer, Goldschmidt launched one the opposite way for a solo shot. Two batters later, Spencer Jones singled, prompting the Red Sox to pull Morán for a position player.
Andruw Monasterio walked Luis García Jr. on four pitches and Rosario on five, loading the bases for Trent Grisham, who made it 11-1 with a sacrifice fly. Then, on his 30th birthday, José Caballero pulled a 49-mph slider deep down the left-field line for a three-run shot.
Clearly, the Yankees were buffing up their stats. After Caballero’s homer, Chisholm walked, and Wells drove him home with his second homer of the inning. The Yankees’ catcher became the first pinch hitter in MLB history to hit two home runs in the same inning.
Plenty of stories were written in the Bronx yesterday. But ultimately, it was just part of this chapter of Yankees-Red Sox, and the Yankees earned a much-needed victory.
Don’t think the Red Sox are going to forget about this one, though. Remember, this team swept the Yankees in four games in June. If they have to face each other in October, especially after Boston blew a 1-0 lead in last year’s Wild Card series, the Red Sox will return to the Bronx with something to prove.
Tonight, at 9:38 PM (8:38 PM CDT), RHP Elmer Rodríguez (0-2, 4.70 ERA) will start for the Yankees against RHP Walbert Ureña (8-9, 2.94 ERA) as the Yankees begin a three-game series in Anaheim against the Angels (YES, Gotham Sports).
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees:
DH Ben Rice (L)
LF Cody Bellinger (L)
1B Luis García Jr. (L)
3B Amed Rosario (R)
CF Trent Grisham (L)
2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L)
RF Spencer Jones (L)
SS José Caballero (R)
C Austin Wells (L)
SP: RHP Elmer Rodríguez (0-2, 4.70 ERA)
Rosters expand to 28 players tomorrow. The Yankees are expected to activate Ryan McMahon off the injured list and call up newly acquired reliever John Schreiber, whom they claimed off waivers today from Kansas City.
Schedule
9:38 PM (8:38 PM CDT): NYY at ANA; YES, Gotham Sports; SP: RHP Elmer Rodríguez (0-2, 4.70 ERA) vs. RHP Walbert Ureña (8-9, 2.94 ERA)
Cover Image Courtesy: New York Yankees
