Yankees 7, Guardians 5. Ten innings, a homer awarded on replay review, two lead changes, and Cody Bellinger deciding the whole thing with a single to left that sent Rice and Sanchez home in the 10th. Cleveland walked home quiet. The New York Yankees walked to the bus at 39-26 and up 1-0 in the series.
That's the thing about this team without Aaron Judge -- they're not curling up. They're winning 10-inning road games because Goldschmidt is carrying the middle of the order and Bellinger is locked in, and Bednar is out there in the 9th and 10th putting people away. June 8th in Progressive Field, and the Yankees took it.
The Early Jump
Paul Goldschmidt came up in the first with Ben Rice already on base and saw a pitch he liked from Gavin Williams. Fly ball to left, 388 feet, Rice scoring ahead of him. Two-run homer -- his eighth of the year -- and the Yankees were up 2-0 before Cleveland knew what hit them.
Williams gave Cleveland five innings, but that first-inning home run was his first bad pitch of the night and the Yankees made him pay for it immediately. That's the Goldschmidt the Yankees paid for.
Trent Grisham added a run in the third on a throwing error when Bellinger grounded into a fielder's choice. 3-0. The Yankees looked comfortable.
They were not comfortable for long.
Three Runs in the Third -- Just Like That
Will Warren gave back a three-spot in the bottom of the third and you could feel the game tightening.
A wild pitch scored Steven Kwan. A Brayan Rocchio groundout drove in the second run. Then Jose Caballero made a fielding error that scored Jose Ramirez. Two of those three runs were earned, one wasn't, but the damage was the same: 3-3, tied, and the Yankees had to start over.
(Warren still struck out five and got 4.1 innings out of a start that could have collapsed entirely. He didn't fall apart. That's the bottom line.)
Ryan McMahon's Replay-Review Blast
The swing that really swung things happened in the fifth, and it had an extra-credit twist.
Ryan McMahon sent a Williams pitch 389 feet to left-center -- solo shot, 4-3 Yankees, his seventh homer of the year. The umpires didn't call it a homer on the field -- the crew went to replay, and replay came back and said home run. Overturned. McMahon was right the whole time.
That's the kind of play that kills a team's momentum. You think you've caught a break -- the call on the field went your way -- and then replay takes it away and the Yankees have a lead again. Cleveland hadn't had a clean night and now this.
Martinez Hits One Out -- and Cleveland Takes the Lead
Angel Martinez didn't let the Guardians die quietly.
In the sixth, he got a pitch from Paul Blackburn over the middle of the plate and hit it 414 feet to right-center. Two-run homer -- his 10th of the year -- and Cleveland was up 5-4. That ball wasn't close to the wall. It was gone.
(Blackburn's ERA doesn't exactly inspire confidence in big spots. This was not a surprise.)
Goldschmidt Ties It in the Eighth
One run down in the eighth, Grisham worked his way to third base, and Goldschmidt grounded into a fielder's choice that scored him.
That was Goldschmidt's third RBI of the night. Two on the first-inning homer, one on a groundball when the team needed it most -- after they'd fallen behind. Three RBI on a night where he might have folded after the lead disappeared. He didn't fold.
5-5. Game to extras.
Bednar Slams the Door, Bellinger Opens It
David Bednar got the last two outs of the ninth and came back out for the 10th. Three strikeouts, zero hits, one harmless walk over 1.2 innings. Bednar (2-3) was the best Yankees reliever on the field tonight -- dominant in the moments that mattered.
The Yankees got the automatic runner on second in the 10th. Shawn Armstrong came on for Cleveland. Bellinger came up.
He singled to left.
Sanchez scored. Rice scored. 7-5. The Yankees were done.
Bellinger went 2-for-5 on the night with both RBI coming on that single. He's been a consistent offensive presence in this stretch -- quiet night until the moment it wasn't, which is exactly the profile you want.
Armstrong took the loss (1-1). It was that kind of night for Cleveland.
Looking Ahead
One game into a three-game set in Cleveland, the Yankees are up 1-0. They're doing this without Judge, who's out with a stress fracture and probably won't be back until after the All-Star break. The offense is scratching for runs, surviving extra innings, and winning anyway.
Game 2 is Tuesday. Keep going.
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.
