Daily Report – 9/18/25
Yankees
Last night, the Yankees secured another series win as they took another game from the Minnesota Twins. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now 7 games.
One reason why the Yankees have been so successful this season is the emergence of Trent Grisham. The Big Sleep has become an everyday center fielder, and he has played hero numerous times this season. Sometimes, Grisham looks like he’s slumping at the plate. Yet, he finds a way to make you forget he ever struggled.
Last night, Grisham was the star for the Yankees, hitting his 32nd and 33rd home runs of the season. Before this year, Grisham had never hit more than 17 home runs in a single season. In Spring Training, while he was competing to become the starting center fielder, he strained his hamstring. While recovering, Grisham drafted a new approach to baseball, which has led to a career year. He has homered eight times in his last 19 games and 12 times in the previous 30 days. Both streaks lead the majors. Now, it’s time for Grisham to extend the trend into October.
No batting gloves, no bat flip, and no home run dance. Just business.
“It’s been a massive year for him,” said manager Aaron Boone. “Whether he’s going through a little lull or he’s on a hot streak where he’s hitting for power, it’s just a good at-bat.”
With yesterday’s win, the Yankees picked up a game on Toronto for the first time since September 7. They now sit four games behind the Blue Jays for the division lead, although the most likely outcome, if the Yankees make the playoffs, is that they’ll play a best-of-three Wild Card series. If the regular season ended today, they would be scheduled to host Houston for that series.
“I think what happened speaks to the guys we have in the clubhouse, the guys we have in that lineup,” said Grisham on his team’s victory last night. “Just a resilient group. They fight a lot. Up and down the lineup, it’s just tough AB after tough AB.”
Luis Gil was shaky on the mound, though. He was strong in his first four innings, but he faltered in the fifth, finishing his outing with five runs allowed (four earned) on nine hits and two walks. Coming off six no-hit innings against Boston, this isn’t the start Gil wanted, especially as he battles for the third spot in the Yankees’ playoff rotation. The Yankees have not yet determined who their Game 3 starter will be, but Gil still seems to lead Cam Schlittler and Will Warren for the role.
Despite yesterday’s result, Gil’s stuff played well against the Twins, and he arguably worked his best pitch mix of his eight starts this season. Nevertheless, it remains concerning that in each of their last starts, Gil, Schlittler, and Warren have allowed a combined 15 runs. “They’re each going to have a few more [starts] here,” Boone said. “Hopefully, they put us in a tough situation based on them performing well.”
Just like Schlittler on Tuesday, the fifth inning got the best of Gil. He allowed a third run before loading the bases and allowing two more. Thankfully, the Yankees already had seven runs on the board, but the game suddenly felt quite close. Fernando Cruz was able to strand two of Gil’s runners when he relieved him in the fifth, and he worked a scoreless sixth. In the seventh inning, Austin Martin led off with a single off Devin Williams, and he stole second base. But Williams locked in, striking out the side on an excellent mix of changeups and fastballs.
The Yankees added an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning thanks to excellent baserunning by Jasson Domínguez, and Luke Weaver had a strong bottom half, securing a scoreless frame despite a leadoff single. After allowing five runs in 1/3 of an inning on Monday, he needed that scoreless outing. Even more impressive was how Camilo Doval handled the ninth inning, eliminating the top of Minnesota’s lineup in order with a phenomenal combination of high-90s cutters and low-90s sweepers. But things would have been a little trickier if not for Cody Bellinger.
In the top of the ninth inning, with one out, Aaron Judge singled for his third hit of the game, and Bellinger drove an inside sinker to deep-right field for his 29th home run of the season. The Belli Bomb gave the Yankees a 10-5 lead. “It’s just a really, really deep team,” Bellinger said of the Yankees. “We come in here for a purpose, trying to win every ballgame, and right now, we’re playing well and trying to keep it rolling.”
The Yankees will try to keep things rolling tonight in Baltimore as they kick off a four-game series against the Orioles. This will be the Yankees’ final road series of the regular season, and tonight’s game is the first of seven against Baltimore over the next 11 days. But first, here’s a fascinating development that has occurred in the American League standings:
Boston and Toronto lost today, which puts Boston a full game behind Seattle and Houston (who are tied for the AL West lead) for the second Wild Card spot.. That means several things:
If the regular season ended today, the Yankees would host Houston in a Wild Card series.
The Yankees now have a huge opportunity to continue their pursuit of catching Toronto and separating themselves further from Boston.
The Yankees’ magic number is still 7 (Cleveland won today).
The Yankees sit 2.5 games ahead of Boston for the third WC spot, and 1.5 games ahead of Houston/Seattle for the second. That’s a remarkable 2.5 game lead on Boston for second place in the division!
Tonight, at 7:15 PM (6:15 PM CDT), the Yankees will play a nationally televised game in Baltimore (FOX). LHP Max Fried (17-5, 3.03 ERA) will start against LHP Cade Povich (3-7, 5.05 ERA). While the Orioles have already been eliminated from playoff contention, they always play tough against the Yankees, who weren’t initially scheduled to fly directly into Baltimore. They were worried they weren’t going to arrive until at least 4 AM, and they don’t tend to play well following an early-morning arrival. With the added time change, who knows what tonight will bring?
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees, which includes a day off for Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ryan McMahon:
1B Paul Goldschmidt (R)
RF Aaron Judge (C) (R)
LF Cody Bellinger (L)
DH Giancarlo Stanton (R)
2B Amed Rosario (R)
CF Trent Grisham (L)
SS Anthony Volpe (R)
3B José Caballero (R)
C Austin Wells (L)
SP: LHP Max Fried (17-5, 3.03 ERA)
Schedule
7:15 PM (6:15 PM CDT): Baseball Night in America (SPECIAL) – NYY at BAL; FOX; SP: LHP Max Fried (17-5, 3.03 ERA)
8:15 PM (7:15 PM CDT): Thursday Night Football (TNF), Week 3 – Dolphins (0-2) at Bills (2-0); Prime Video
