BOSTON — Jazz Chisholm Jr. delivered his most dominant performance and boldest declaration of the season Saturday, driving the New York Yankees to a critical 5-3 win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
The second baseman had three hits and three RBIs, highlighted by his 29th home run. He followed the series-clinching victory with a statement that underscored his belief in the Yankees’ place atop the league.
“We’re the best team in the league,” Chisholm said with unwavering confidence. “I feel like any team that thinks they’re better than us, they should know when we step on the field that we’re coming with relentlessness. We’re coming to step on necks. We’re not here to play around.”
Chisholm matches Judge’s historic Yankees milestone
The night carried added weight for Jazz Chisholm. With his latest blast, he reached 40 home runs in his first 162 games as a Yankee since being acquired from Miami in July 2024.
He is now only the sixth player in franchise history to hit 40 or more in his first 162 contests in pinstripes. That group includes Aaron Judge, Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Jason Giambi and Gary Sanchez.
Chisholm’s milestone becomes even more significant when paired with his 48 stolen bases over the same span. That combination places him alone in Yankees history with a rare 40-40 performance across a full season’s worth of games.
“He’s been a catalyst for New York’s elite offense,” one scout observed, noting the team’s major league-best totals of 250 home runs and 765 runs scored.
Yankees break through against nemesis Bello
For the Yankees, the win was more than just another step forward in the playoff race. It also marked their first breakthrough against Boston starter Brayan Bello, who had stymied them repeatedly.
Bello entered with a 1.95 career ERA against New York, the lowest by any pitcher with at least 10 starts against the Yankees in the live ball era. But Chisholm sparked the offense from the start.
He pushed across a run in the first inning with a single down the third-base line, then added another RBI single through the left side in the third. In the fifth, he lifted a solo homer to right-center that stretched the lead to 4-0.
“Baseball at this time of year, it’s all intense,” said Yankees starter Max Fried, who logged his major league-leading 17th victory. “Every game we go out there, we feel like we need to go out there and win it.”
Team meeting sparked Yankees turnaround
Chisholm pointed to a players-only meeting away from the ballpark as the turning point for the Yankees’ season. He could not recall the exact date, but said it came about two weeks ago.
“It was sometime, like a week or two ago. It might have been the last game against Boston. I don’t know. Somewhere around there,” Chisholm said. “Honestly, everybody started walking in. We had a talk. We had a team talk between all the boys. We were just talking about at-bats and stuff like that. The next day things were good.”
That meeting helped the Yankees reset after a rough stretch. From mid-June through late August, they went just 27-35. Since then, they have rebounded with a 21-9 run over their last 30 games.
“We’ve said it all year long that we’ve been playing to everybody else’s level instead of our own level,” Chisholm explained. “We’ve been letting games go. We’ve been losing games ourselves, making errors, just having poor at-bats and stuff like that. We finally looked ourselves in the mirror and realized that we’re the team to beat.”
Playoff positioning takes major step forward
Saturday’s win pushed New York (83-65) 2½ games ahead of Boston (81-68) for the top American League wild-card slot. That edge gives them a strong chance at home-field advantage if the rivals meet again in October.
The Yankees trail the Toronto Blue Jays by three games in the AL East with 14 contests left. But their recent surge has kept both the division and the wild card within sight. Their 7-4 mark in a 12-game gauntlet against four contending clubs added weight to their playoff hopes.
“We’re playing good all-around baseball,” Fried said. “We’re defending really well. Really good at-bats, and we’re pitching. When you’re able to do all those different things, a lot of times it comes out in wins.”
Chisholm is also chasing history on a personal level. One more home run would make him the second player in Yankees history to post a 30-30 season, joining Alfonso Soriano. His totals over 162 games in pinstripes include 98 RBIs and 48 steals, showing the all-around impact he has brought since arriving.
The Yankees’ outspoken infielder now embodies the club’s confidence as the postseason approaches. His words, combined with his play, signal a team that believes it can contend deep into October regardless of its seeding.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
