Jose Trevino hits pinch-hit walk-off single after more Yankee players go down with injuries
Prior to the Yankees’ rubber game against the Guardians, Brian Cashman discussed his team’s last place standing and the injuries that have decimated the roster he assembled.
“Obviously, it’s not the team that we put together,” Cashman said Wednesday during a wide-ranging scrum that lasted nearly 30 minutes. “We’ve got a lot of injuries, so we had to turn our attention to some alternative choices. Obviously, we’re not playing our best baseball with what we currently have.”
Ironically, a few alternative choices helped the Yankees win a wild series finale, 4-3, after Aaron Boone made a questionable choice of his own.
The Bombers’ first two runs came courtesy of solo shots from Willie Calhoun and Jake Bauers in the fifth inning. Both were non-roster invitees in spring training and didn’t start the season in the majors.
Guardians ace Shane Bieber gave up both homers.
Calhoun’s longball was his second in as many days after his first dinger in pinstripes gave the Yankees the lead in Tuesday’s win.
“It’s been good to see Willie the last two days because I feel like that’s the hitter he is,” Boone said. “We kind of envisioned that left-handed role if something at any point with [the injured Giancarlo Stanton] happened. I feel like he can really hit.”
Bauers’ Wednesday blast was his first hit and home run with the Yankees, too. It was also his first jack in the majors since 2021 after he spent half of 2022 with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
“Pretty indescribable,” Bauers said of his home run off Bieber, a former teammate. “I think I blacked out rounding the bases, so I’m not really sure what happened, but I feel like I’ve been having quality at bats all year. So everyone that’s close to me is just telling me nothing changes up here. So just trying to keep the same approach, same preparation, same work and keep it going.”
The Yankees then walked it off in the 10th when Jose Trevino hit a pinch-hit RBI single, which starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt said the catcher predicted when the two ran into each other in the training room earlier in the game.
“Just a good job of Trevi staying in the center of the field, probably knowing he’s getting some spin there again, and then getting enough of it,” Boone said.
Meanwhile, Schmidt, one of three injury fill-ins for the Yankees’ rotation, didn’t allow an earned run for the second time this season. Two runners crossed the plate in the first inning thanks to some shaky defense from Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo, but Schmidt kept the Guardians off the board after the opening frame.
The righty totaled 4.1 innings, six hits, two unearned runs, two walks, four strikeouts and 79 pitches while lowering his ERA from 6.84 to 5.83.
From there, Ian Hamilton, Jimmy Cordero and Ron Marinaccio took care of business out of the bullpen, but Clay Holmes had another poor ninth inning that saw the Guardians pull ahead, 3-2.
The Yankees recovered in the bottom of the frame when Calhoun tied things up with a single, but the decision to use Holmes, only to see him struggle for the second time in three days, led to boos and “Fire Boone” chants at Yankee Stadium. It also led to an injury for Harrison Bader, who left the game after colliding with novice left fielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a fly ball that fell.
“No, not hesitation going to him. He’s coming in the game,” Boone said of using Holmes in that spot. “Like, that’s where we’re going whether it’s with two outs there or in the next inning. Zero hesitation going to him. The one hesitation I had was, do I squeeze Marinaccio through one more hitter and then hand it over to Clay in the 10th? So that was the only calculus, was do I stay a little bit longer with Marinaccio knowing he went yesterday? So that was the only hesitation.
“And look, I understand with Clay, obviously, there’s been a couple outings. Let’s look at what’s going on a little bit. I mean, the Bermuda Triangle [play with Bader], like that’s baseball sometimes. So obviously we got to get him to where he’s the Clay we know, but he’s a lot closer to that than, I think, the noise.”
Boone added that he believes Bader is going to be OK, but the centerfielder will have tests done on his head and neck. Infielder Oswald Peraza also exited in the ninth following a successful stolen base. He rolled his ankle and will undergo X-rays.
Albert Abreu handled the 10th before Trevino walked it off in the bottom of the inning.
Despite the two home runs and a lot of hard contact, Bieber completed eight innings of work while tallying five hits, two earned runs, one walk and four strikeouts over 93 pitches.
With the regular season series against Cleveland over, the Yankees have a much needed off day on Thursday before a Tampa Bay showdown with the first place Rays.
Jhony Brito, Domingo German and Gerrit Cole will start at The Trop after a case of strep throat pushed Nestor Cortes’ next start to Monday.
Yonny Chirinos, Drew Rasmussen and Josh Fleming are lined up for the Rays, though Tampa Bay has to finish its series with the surprisingly strong Pirates on Thursday afternoon.
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