NEW YORK — The contract had been questioned all spring. The home run column sat empty after 15 games. And on Monday night, Trent Grisham was not even in the Yankees starting lineup.
None of that mattered by the time the final out was recorded.
Grisham stepped off the bench, hit two home runs and helped the Yankees snap a five-game losing streak with an 11-10 walk-off win over the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium. The winning run scored on a wild pitch from Angels closer Jordan Romano in the bottom of the ninth inning, with Jose Caballero sprinting home to end a back-and-forth game that featured six lead changes over nine innings.
A $22 million investment under fire
The Yankees signed Grisham to a two-year, $22 million deal this offseason, banking on a repeat of the 2025 campaign that made him one of the most cost-efficient players in baseball. That season, he slugged 34 home runs with an .811 OPS on a $5 million salary. General Manager Brian Cashman calculated that Grisham would prefer a massive raise in the Bronx over chasing free-agent dollars elsewhere, and he was right.
Through the first 15 games of 2026, the bet looked shaky. Grisham was hitting .133 with zero home runs. A year earlier at the same point in the season, he already had four home runs, 10 RBIs and a 1.139 OPS. Critics started pointing toward Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where Jasson Dominguez was making a strong case for a roster spot, hitting .354 with two home runs and a .996 OPS after being demoted late in spring training.
With a lefty on the mound Monday, manager Aaron Boone went with Randal Grichuk in center field and kept Grisham on the bench. It looked like another quiet night for the struggling veteran.
One pinch-hit swing that changed everything
The Yankees and Angels were tied 4-4 in the fifth inning when Boone called on Trent Grisham to bat for Grichuk with two runners on base. Grisham drove a three-run home run into the seats. The Yankees led 7-4, and the Bronx crowd came alive.
It was his first home run of the season. The first of two on the night.
The game did not stay comfortable for long. Mike Trout answered in the sixth with a three-run shot off reliever Jake Bird to pull the Angels back within one. Aaron Judge responded immediately with a solo blast off Shaun Anderson, a 398-foot pull to the second deck at 111.4 mph, restoring a two-run cushion. Then Trout struck again in the eighth, hitting a go-ahead two-run homer off Camilo Doval to put the Angels in front 10-8.
The Yankees bullpen combined to allow six earned runs across four innings of work, continuing the shaky relief pitching that had plagued the club all weekend in Tampa Bay.
Judge joins elite company while Grisham steals the night
Before Grisham took center stage, Aaron Judge had already put together a signature performance. He opened the scoring in the first inning with a two-run homer off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi, a 456-foot moonshot to the left-field bleachers clocked at 116 mph off the bat. It was the kind of strike that reminded opponents why the Yankees captain remains the most feared hitter in the sport.
His second home run of the night moved Judge past Mickey Mantle on the Yankees’ all-time list for multi-homer games, his 47th. Only Babe Ruth, who did it 68 times in pinstripes, has more in franchise history. Ruth’s overall major league record stands at 72.
The Anderson shot had added context. The Angels reliever had buzzed a fastball past Judge’s head in the fourth inning. Judge stared back at the mound but struck out on the at-bat. When Anderson came inside again in the sixth, Judge waited on an 83-mph changeup and drove it into the upper deck.
But with the Yankees trailing entering the ninth, the spotlight swung back to Grisham.
Grisham ties it, Romano unravels, Yankees walk off
Romano had been one of the more reliable closers in the American League this season. He came on in the ninth to protect a two-run lead. Caballero led off with a walk. Two batters later, with two runners on, Grisham stepped to the plate for the second time off the bench.
He hit another home run. A two-run shot that tied the game at 10. The Stadium erupted.
Two batters later, Caballero doubled, stole third base and then scored when Romano bounced a pitch in the dirt past the catcher. Final score: Yankees 11, Angels 10. The five-game losing streak was over.
Starter Will Warren left the game with 3.2 innings pitched after a Jose Caballero error in the fourth inning opened the door for four unearned runs. Warren allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out six. Fernando Cruz replaced him and walked his first two batters before the Yankees clawed their way back into contention.
Questions remain despite the relief of a win
One night does not quiet every concern in the Yankees clubhouse. The bullpen continues to be a problem that cannot be solved with a single victory. Anthony Volpe is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday at Double-A Somerset as he works his way back from injury. Ryan McMahon remained a liability at third base, and Amed Rosario figures to see more time there going forward.
The Yankees finished Monday with a season-high 14 hits and, in a fitting irony, did not need the last one to win. For a club that scored just 13 runs during its five-game slide, the offensive breakthrough was overdue.
For Grisham, the night was a reset. The Yankees paid $22 million expecting exactly the kind of performance he delivered on Monday. For one night at Yankee Stadium, benched and doubted, he came through when it mattered most. That is the version of Trent Grisham the Yankees built their outfield around. They will need more of it going forward.
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