The New York Yankees managed to scrape by with a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, avoiding a demoralizing sweep thanks to a clutch eighth-inning solo home run from Jazz Chisholm Jr. and an absolutely lights-out performance from an unlikely bullpen. After getting pummeled in the first two games of the series, this win was flat-out imperative for the Bombers to stop the bleeding.
The Bullpen Came Out Swinging, Literally
Seriously, who saw this coming? After Aaron Boone’s managing blunder in the opener and Yoshinobu Yamamoto humbling them in game two, with Gerrit Cole and Cam Schlittler on the bump no less, you’d think the pitching was cooked. But the Yankees delivered their best pitching performance of the series from a hastily assembled bullpen game in the finale. Ryan Yarbrough, who authored an improbable start against the Dodgers last June by holding their mighty lineup to just one run in six innings and even out-dueling Yamamoto, somehow tapped into that magic again. He retired the first eight batters he faced, needing just 17 pitches for six up, six down through two innings. He couldn’t quite make it through the third after Eliezer Alfonzo got his first big league hit and Shohei Ohtani followed with an infield single. Boone called on Paul Blackburn, who was recently minted as a relief ace, even though rookie Elmer Rodríguez was expected to be the bulk reliever. Blackburn came in hot and got Andy Pages to fly out, stranding both runners. And get this, every reliever not named Fernando Cruz was lights-out, absolutely dominating. Talk about stepping up when it mattered!
Jazz Delivers the Decisive Blow
Now, the offense wasn’t exactly vintage. They wasted a couple of scoring chances in the middle innings, which totally could have opened the door for the Dodgers to snatch the lead. But they did come out firing against opener Will Klein. Paul Goldschmidt kept the first inning alive with a two-out double to the opposite field, and Cody Bellinger cashed him in with an RBI single right up the middle. Jasson Domínguez followed with a single, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. ended up stranding that pair. It just made his moment in the eighth inning that much bigger. With the game on the line, Chisholm Jr. stepped up and blasted that go-ahead solo home run, a pure clutch shot that proved to be the decisive blow.
This 2-1 win means the Yankees dodged a bullet. They needed to avoid that sweep, and they got it done. They can take this hard-fought victory and hopefully build some momentum from it. This wasn’t pretty, but it was a W, and sometimes that’s all that matters to keep your head above water.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
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