NEW YORK — The biggest name in the Yankees lineup was missing, and the Bronx held its breath. Aaron Judge sat out a third straight game, his right side still under the Yankees’ medical review. The Yankees crowd at Yankee Stadium braced for the worst kind of Thursday, a quiet loss and a sweep at the hands of the AL Central leaders.
Cleveland had already taken the first two games of the series. A third would have stung even more. New York’s lineup card looked thin without its captain, and the early innings did little to ease the worry.
Then the Yankees reminded everyone how they planned to survive without him and ended with 2-1 win.
A pitchers’ duel takes shape
For most of the afternoon, this was a duel of zeros. Yankees starter Carlos Rodon matched the Guardians pitch for pitch, and runs felt rare and precious. The left-hander carved through Cleveland with sharp stuff and steady command, refusing to let the visitors pull away.
Cleveland struck first in the fourth. Stuart Fairchild lined a single that brought home Jose Ramirez, a threat all series. That run gave Cleveland a 1-0 edge and a chance to bury a short-handed home club.
The Yankees answered in the same inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. lifted a sacrifice fly that scored a run and tied the game at 1. The blow came against Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi, who otherwise pitched well. Suddenly the building had life again.
The seventh inning that flipped the game
The tie held into the seventh, and that is where the Yankees finally cracked it open at Yankee Stadium. Chisholm drew a one-out walk off reliever Codi Heuer. He stole second base with two outs. Chisholm then scampered to third on a wild pitch, putting the go-ahead run 90 feet away.
Up stepped Ryan McMahon. The third baseman worked a full count, then poked a soft grounder through the right side. It skipped just past the dive of second baseman Travis Bazzana. Chisholm raced home, and the Yankees led 2-1 in front of a roaring Bronx crowd.
That single proved to be the Yankees game winner. It also captured the new identity of a team learning to score without its superstar.
“You’re always going to miss Aaron Judge, but it’s on us,” McMahon said. “We’ve got to hold it down. We’ve got to find ways to win ballgames, and we might be doing some more stuff like that.”
The win let New York avoid the sweep and claim the finale of the three-game set. It also marked the seventh Yankees victory in the last 10 games for a club trying to steady itself.
Rodon delivers a third straight gem
Rodon set the tone long before the late drama. He struck out seven over six innings and allowed just one run on two hits, walking three. It was the Yankees left-hander’s third straight outing with a single run allowed, dropping his recent work to a 2.88 ERA across 25 innings.
The veteran spoke about his approach after the game. “I’m happy with the swing-and-miss,” Rodon said. “Getting ahead is the No. 1 thing, and just trying to get outs. The strikeouts come.”
Manager Aaron Boone liked what he saw from his starter, even if the path looked different from prior gems. He praised the steady result more than the style.
“I feel like the last three have been good, albeit different,” Boone said. “He threw the ball really well against the Blue Jays. Overall today, he was just solid.”
The Yankees bullpen finished the job in clean fashion. Brent Headrick picked up the win in relief. Fernando Cruz worked a scoreless eighth against the heart of the Cleveland order. David Bednar then closed it out for his first save chance since Memorial Day, locking down the ninth without trouble.
Schuemann’s glove fills the void in right
Defense mattered as much as pitching in the Yankees win. Max Schuemann made his first big league start in right field, filling the spot Judge usually owns for the Yankees. He dove to rob Steven Kwan in the second inning. Then he leaped at the wall to steal a drive from Brayan Rocchio in the seventh. The glovework kept Cleveland off the board.
Chisholm raved about the fill-in after the final out.
“He’s been great. His defense has been great,” Chisholm said. “It’s pretty sick to see him just adjust so well to Yankee Stadium.”
McMahon also handled a loud moment at the hot corner. In the sixth, he dropped to his knees to snare a 110.5 mph liner off the bat of Ramirez, snuffing out a rally before it could start.
A new blueprint for life without Judge
The blueprint was clear. Without Judge, the Yankees leaned on speed, contact, and timely defense to grind out the win. They swiped multiple bases, and trusted their arms to keep it close. Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and Chisholm all stole bags in the win.
Boone knows the Yankees formula will be tested often while his slugger heals. He framed the absence in blunt terms.
“He’s the best hitter in the sport, so you know there’s a void there,” Boone said. “But we also have really good players that can pick it up, too.”
Chisholm summed up the mood in the clubhouse. He refused to lean on the obvious excuse.
“It kind of sucks not having a three-time MVP in your lineup,” Chisholm said. “At the same time, we all know that we can’t use it as an excuse out there.”
The Red Sox arrive Friday to face the Yankees in the next test. LHP Ryan Weathers will take the mound for the Yankees against Boston RHP Sonny Gray on Friday.
For one night, though, the Yankees proved a thin lineup can still find a way to win.
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