Jazz Chisholm Jr. went on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and told the world the Yankees were winning the World Series. Cleveland's broadcaster Tom Hamilton had the only reasonable response when Jazz stepped up Tuesday night: "Pretty amazing he got on the Jimmy Fallon Show batting .239."
His counter was pretty good -- a 409-foot shot to right in the second inning, his first ever home run at Yankee Stadium, that tied it 1-1 off Gavin Williams. (He's still batting .239, for what it's worth.)
The Guardians won anyway. Cleveland 5, New York Yankees 4, and they've taken this series before Thursday's finale.
The Fourth Inning Did It
The Yankees had the game's energy after that shot. Then the fourth happened.
Rhys Hoskins turned on a Gerrit Cole pitch for a 2-run homer -- José Ramírez was already on base (because of course he was) -- and suddenly it was 3-1 Cleveland. Ball landed 382 feet away. The lead felt bigger.
José Caballero answered immediately, a solo shot off Williams to cut it to 3-2, which showed you exactly what this offense can do when it's running hot. Two solo shots against a pitcher who'd won three straight starts. But every time the Yankees cut into this lead, Cleveland reached back for one more.
Ramírez handled that personally.
Ramírez Ran This Game
Three hits. Three runs scored. One solo home run off Cole in the sixth that turned a 3-2 game into 4-2. And then the eighth, where he singled against Tim Hill, took third on Kyle Manzardo's double, and scored when Hoskins lined a single to left off Paul Blackburn to push it to 5-3.
The Yankees chased that fifth run all game. The one that made 5-4 feel like 5-2 in the ninth. That run was Ramírez's.
Cole's Clean Return Just Ended
Cole came in having not allowed an earned run since returning from elbow surgery, fresh off two smooth outings in his comeback. That run ended Wednesday in a three-homer stretch -- Kyle Manzardo in the second, Hoskins in the fourth, Ramírez in the sixth -- and he was pulled after 5.1 innings with all four earned runs on the board.
Two strikeouts in 5.1 innings. Cole at full strength misses bats at a completely different rate. The 2-K version of him doesn't make hitters uncomfortable.
Fernando Cruz was the best reliever on the field (1.1 innings, zero hits, three strikeouts). Tim Hill wasn't -- the single and double he allowed in the eighth set up the run that made the comeback math very difficult.
Bellinger Kept the Lights On
Cody Bellinger gave the crowd something twice. A sac fly in the sixth off Tim Herrin sent Ben Rice home and cut it to 4-3. Another one in the ninth off Cade Smith -- after Paul Goldschmidt led off with a double -- made it 5-4 with the tying run at the plate.
For ninety seconds it felt like something was happening. Then Smith got the last two outs. He's got 21 saves now. He doesn't get rattled by a Goldschmidt double.
Aaron Judge sat out again -- bone bruise in his upper right rib causing shoulder pain, second game missed, specialist visit coming. (The Yankees haven't ruled out the IL, which is not a sentence you want to read in early June.) This lineup can compete without him, but Cleveland's pitching is too consistent for the offense to run on solo shots and sacrifice flies alone.
Carlos Rodón goes Thursday afternoon against Slade Cecconi. Cleveland just won their first series at Yankee Stadium since September 2021. The question is whether the Yankees can avoid the sweep before the Red Sox arrive Friday.
Jimmy writes the Bronx Pinstripes game recap after every Yankees game. Beat-reporter pacing, fan's heartbeat. He calls opposing players by last name and has no patience for dead-air innings.
