NEW YORK — Luis Garcia Jr. homered in his Yankees debut and briefly gave New York the lead, but a seven-run eighth inning sank the club in a 13-7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
Garcia, acquired from the Washington Nationals a day earlier, drove a two-run homer in the seventh to put the Yankees ahead 7-6, their first lead of the game. The advantage lasted one half-inning. Angel Chivilli then surrendered three home runs in the eighth, and the Cardinals pulled away.
Alec Burleson led the rout with three two-run homers, the first three-homer game of his career. The loss opened a three-game series and dropped the Yankees to a night they will want to forget, one that exposed the bullpen gaps they failed to address at the trade deadline.
A Cardinals team well below .500 walked into the Bronx and hung 13 runs on a Yankees club fighting for position in the American League East. New York hit five home runs and still lost by six.
The result overshadowed a debut that had looked like a turning point. Garcia, born in New York and a Yankees fan growing up, delivered exactly the kind of swing the front office traded for while Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger sit injured. New York hit all five of its home runs in the fifth and seventh innings to rally from a 6-0 hole.
Garcia’s big swing gave the Yankees life
Luis Garcia Jr. slotted in at first base and batted third in his first game in pinstripes. He singled in the fourth for his first Yankees hit, then delivered the swing that flipped the night.
The Yankees broke through in the fifth. Trent Grisham led off the scoring with a solo home run, and Austin Wells followed later in the inning with a two-run shot to cut the deficit to 6-3.
Trailing 6-5 in the seventh, the Yankees erupted again. Ryan McMahon and José Caballero opened the inning with back-to-back solo home runs. Two batters later, Garcia turned on a changeup from George Soriano and drove it into the right-center-field bullpen. The two-run shot gave the Yankees a 7-6 lead, their first of the game.
Garcia spoke afterward about the weight of the moment, a debut swing in front of the fan base he grew up cheering. He kept his focus on the job rather than the storyline.
“It means a lot to be able to connect there,” Garcia said through interpreter Marlon Abreu. “I’m really just going there to try to do my job, try to find a pitch where I can put my team on top. The whole moment, I’m going to cherish it.”
He finished 2 for 4, an immediate sign of the thump the Yankees traded for while Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger sit injured. The lineup that had gone quiet for weeks suddenly looked dangerous.
A seven-run eighth erased everything
Chivilli entered to protect the one-run lead and could not record a meaningful out. Nathan Church greeted him with a three-run homer to put St. Louis back ahead. Jimmy Crooks followed with a two-run shot. Burleson capped the outburst with a two-run blast, his third home run of the night.
Chivilli was charged with six earned runs while recording just three outs. He had not allowed an earned run since April 16. By the end of the night, the Yankees had optioned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The bullpen damage did not stop there. Tim Hill was charged with two runs and Ryan Yarbrough allowed one. A unit the Yankees have leaned on all season picked the worst night to unravel.
Manager Aaron Boone refused to treat one bad inning as a verdict on his relievers, pointing to reinforcements on the way as arms return from injury.
“I feel really good about our ‘pen,” Boone said. “You’re going to have the occasional night like this.”
Schlittler’s control deserted him early
The early deficit traced to the starter. Cam Schlittler lasted just three innings, his shortest outing of the season, and walked a season-high five while allowing four runs.
Schlittler issued a leadoff walk to JJ Wetherholt in the first, then served up a two-run homer to Burleson. José Fermin added a run-scoring double in the second and Church a run-scoring single in the third. It took the right-hander 83 pitches to record nine outs.
Schlittler struck out six but never settled. His ERA rose to 2.26, still the best in the American League, yet the night continued a strange home-road split that has puzzled him all year.
“I like to take pride in having that control and limiting those walks,” Schlittler said. “I don’t really have an excuse for you. It wasn’t my night, and I’ve got to be better there.”
Wells, who caught the outing, said the Cardinals forced Schlittler into long counts and pounced when he came into the zone.
“He just couldn’t really find the zone when he needed to,” Wells said. “I think they made him get in the zone, and when they did, they put some really good swings up against some good pitches.”
A costly night for a team chasing October
The Cardinals entered the Bronx at well below .500 and mired in a 5-13 slide over their previous 18 games. They still scored 13 runs against a Yankees team that had reshaped its roster hours earlier.
The five home runs marked a rare power surge for a lineup that had gone cold. Wells, one of the five to go deep, has carried a .973 OPS over his past 16 games as he settles in as the starting catcher.
The Yankees came out of the deadline without the catcher and high-leverage reliever they had targeted, and the eighth inning showed the cost. New York remained second in the AL East, behind the Tampa Bay Rays, and will send out a retooled roster for the second game of the series Tuesday. Chivilli’s roster spot goes to a fresh arm as the club continues to sort its bullpen.
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