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Yankees beat Mariners in 10 after being held hitless for seven innings

Published 1 day ago5 minute read

There is no shortage of candidates for “worst loss of the season” for the Yankees in this roller coaster of a first half.

There is a clear No. 1 for best win.

It occurred Thursday night when the Yankees — held hitless by Seattle’s Bryan Woo until Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the eighth inning with a single — stormed back from a five-run deficit entering the eighth to post a 6-5 victory in 10 innings in front of a rocking Stadium crowd of 41,241.

“Happy to steal that one there,” said Aaron Judge, whose sacrifice fly in the 10th won it.

After Devin Williams stranded the Mariners’ ghost runner in the top of the 10th, Judge’s sacrifice fly to center off lefthander Gabe Speier (barely) drove in ghost runner Anthony Volpe, who made a terrific slide to beat Cal Raleigh’s tag.

Julio Rodriguez’s laser throw beat Volpe but was slightly to the first-base side, and Volpe went in headfirst, pulled back his left hand and touched the plate with his right. The Mariners challenged the close play at the plate and the call was upheld.

“Sick,” Austin Wells said of the creative slide by Volpe, one of his closest friends on the team.

With ghost runner Volpe on second to begin the 10th, Oswald Peraza popped to third on a bunt attempt. The Mariners intentionally walked pinch hitter Paul Goldschmidt and Trent Grisham walked to load the bases for Judge, who lifted a 1-and-1 slider to not-very-deep center, but just deep enough.

“Probably one of the better wins we’ve had,” said Wells, whose two-out, two-run single in the ninth on a 3-and-2 pitch from All-Star closer Andres Munoz tied it at 5-5.

The Yankees (52-41), who moved within 5-3 in the eighth on pinch hitter Giancarlo Stanton’s two-out, two-run homer into the Yankees’ bullpen, have won four straight.

According to researcher Sarah Langs, the Yankees are the first team to win a game in which they had no hits and trailed by at least five runs through seven innings since the Pirates in 1977. Those are the only two such wins in at least the expansion era (1961).

Woo — who came in 8-4 with a 2.77 ERA, including a no-decision May 13 against the Yankees in which he allowed four hits in 6 1⁄3 scoreless innings of a 2-1 victory — saw few hard-hit balls against him through seven innings, completely flummoxing a club that had averaged 7.1 runs in its previous 10 games.

Woo had a 5-0 lead entering the eighth, courtesy of Jorge Polanco’s three-run homer off Clayton Beeter in the seventh.

Chisholm notched the Yankees’ first hit, rifling a 1-and-2 changeup to right — Woo, in the vicinity of first base after breaking for the bag on the hard grounder to the right side, tapped Chisholm on the posterior in a show of respect and Chisholm responded in kind — and Ben Rice followed with a sharp single to center to put runners at the corners.

“It felt like we were kind of getting dominated, frankly,” Aaron Boone said. “Even 2-0 down, it felt like a little bit more than that. It just had that feel to it tonight. But baseball’s funny like that. The guys didn’t give up. No quit.”

After Wells’ sacrifice fly made it 5-1, righthander Matt Brash and his 0.47 season ERA came on to face the slumping Volpe, who heard the loudest boos of his career after striking out looking. Stanton then crushed a 2-and-1, 98-mph sinker 415 feet to right-center for his third homer since coming off the injured list on June 16. Stanton’s pinch homer was the first of his career; he had been 5-for-48 as a pinch hitter.

“That was good,” he said before smiling. “I haven’t pinch hit too much and haven’t been the greatest at it, either.”

Munoz, who entered the day with a 1.06 ERA and had allowed 15 hits in 34 innings, allowed a leadoff single by Grisham in the ninth. Judge flied to center and Cody Bellinger lashed a single to right. That brought up Chisholm, who hit two homers Wednesday night, but with the crowd again roaring, he flied to center for the second out.

Rice walked to load the bases and Wells, after getting ahead 2-and-0, lined a 3-and-2, 98-mph fastball to right for a two-run single that tied it at 5-5.

Woo, who retired 20 straight after walking Grisham with one out in the first, was charged with two runs and allowed two hits and two walks in 7 1⁄3 innings. He struck out five.

“Super-resilient team, super-confident guys. We feel like we’re never out of a game,” said Marcus Stroman who, in his third start since coming off the injured list, allowed two runs, six hits and two walks in five innings. “As long as the game’s within striking distance, I think everybody in this clubhouse thinks we can come back.”

Erik Boland

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.

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