NEW YORK — The grand slam came from the least expected bat in the building. George Lombard Jr., a rookie shortstop barely a month into his big league career, turned on a hanging slider in the third inning and drove it into the short porch. Four runs scored, and a tight game turned into a comfortable one.
The Yankees beat the Colorado Rockies 6-1 on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, a tidy result on a night that began with worrying news. Hours before first pitch, the club placed second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the injured list with a right thumb sprain and summoned Anthony Volpe to replace him.
Will Warren handled the pitching. The right-hander held Colorado to one run over six innings, struck out eight and walked two, cruising against a lineup that entered the night 55-90. Lombard’s slam, the Yankees’ first of the entire season, gave him all the cushion he needed.
Aaron Judge, in his second game back from a broken rib, added two singles and played eight innings in right field, a step up from the six he logged Tuesday. Cody Bellinger homered. The Yankees moved to 83-62, a season-high 21 games over .500. On the surface, it was a routine win in a September full of them.
Yankees gamble that is quietly paying off
Look closer, though, and the most consequential story of the night was not the rookie’s slam or the ace-in-waiting on the mound. It was the first baseman hitting second from the bottom of the order, the player the Yankees bet on when they emptied part of their pitching depth to get him.
Luis Garcia Jr. homered again Wednesday, a solo shot to right-center in the second inning that opened the scoring. It was his 29th home run of the season and, just as telling, his 10th multi-hit game since joining the Yankees at the trade deadline. He finished 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.
That production matters because the trade was not universally praised. The Yankees sent four right-handed pitchers to the Washington Nationals to acquire Garcia, a steep price in arms for a team that prizes pitching depth. The question at the time was whether a left-handed bat with an aggressive approach would fit a lineup already searching for consistency.
The answer, two months in, is increasingly yes. Garcia had hit .292 with a .337 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging mark, with five homers and a 132 wRC+ as a Yankee. Wednesday added another home run and another multi-hit night to that ledger.
A fit that looks better with every swing
Garcia arrived as one of the National League’s premier power threats. He hit 23 home runs for the Nationals before the trade and led the NL in slugging at the time of the deal. Boone did not hide his enthusiasm when the move was made.
Speaking after the Yankees acquired him, Boone summed up the appeal in blunt terms.
“He rakes,” Boone said. “He can really hit.”
The context around Garcia’s role gives the fit its shape. The Yankees lost Judge on May 31 and spent much of the summer with one of baseball’s least productive offenses. Garcia was brought in to slug, and against right-handed pitching he has done exactly that from a corner spot, letting Ben Rice settle in as the designated hitter.
Now, with Judge back and Bellinger healthy, Garcia is no longer being asked to carry the lineup. He is a complementary bat near the bottom of the order, which may be where he is most dangerous. Pitchers who navigate the top of the Yankees order still have to face a 29-homer hitter before the lineup turns over.
Warren’s late surge gives Boone a bigger prize
The other overlooked winner Wednesday was Warren. His line extended a run that has quietly reshaped the Yankees’ rotation picture. He has now allowed two earned runs or fewer in five consecutive starts, and his eight strikeouts were his most since June 20 against the Reds.
Five days earlier, Warren had thrown 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief against the Padres, a glimpse of a possible October role. Instead he returned to the rotation with rising velocity for a third straight outing and looked the part of a dependable starter. He improved to 10-6 with a 4.05 ERA and 141 strikeouts over 142 1/3 innings.
For manager Aaron Boone, that stabilization answers a real need. Behind his frontline arms, the Yankees have searched all year for a starter they can trust in a short series. Warren is building that case one start at a time, and the timing could not be better.
The bullpen contributed to the cause as well. John Schreiber, Paul Blackburn and Michael Fulmer combined for three scoreless innings, and Bellinger’s late homer meant closer David Bednar could rest after being pushed into Tuesday’s ninth inning.
An October marker no one is talking about
Here is the number that slipped past most recaps. The win pushed the Yankees’ playoff magic number to five. Combined with Boston’s loss, it restored a four-game cushion for the top American League wild-card spot, the seed that carries home-field advantage in the first round.
That detail reframes the whole night. A blowout over a last-place club does not feel like a turning point, but the standings tell a sharper story. The Yankees have won seven of their past 10 and 15 of their past 22, and they are closing on a postseason berth even as they chase Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Lombard’s grand slam earned its own place in the record book. At 21 years and 99 days, he became the second-youngest Yankee to hit a slam, behind only Mickey Mantle. It also spared the franchise an odd distinction, as the Yankees had been in danger of finishing a season without a grand slam for the first time since 1990.
Warren, who watched the rookie’s swing decide the game, offered the kind of praise that lands harder coming from a teammate.
“He’s young, but he carries himself like he’s been around for a long time,” Warren said.
The Yankees remain four games behind the Rays with 17 to play, but four games clear of the Red Sox for the top wild card. Judge is building back, Warren is peaking, and the deadline bat many questioned keeps answering. The margin is thin, and the Yankees are giving themselves every chance to hold it.
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