DJ LeMahieu’s performance continued on Sunday, hitting a game-winning single in the bottom of the 10th inning.
And the Yankees have further put their midseason slump behind them.
LeMahieu’s latest big hit came against a tight five-man infield after Trent Grisham advanced free runner Anthony Volpe to third base on a sacrifice bunt to open the inning.
LeMahieu, who had been struggling all year, had a career-high six RBIs in Wednesday’s win over the Phillies and continued his strong form on Sunday in a 4-3 Game 10 win in the Bronx.
“It was a great game,” coach Aaron Boone said of the win. “The fact that we were able to outlast them was big.”
The win was the Yankees’ seventh in their last eight games and marked their third straight victory, keeping them tied with Baltimore for first place in the AL East.
The next time they face a team with a winning record will be on August 20th when they take on the Guardians, who are currently leading the American League Central Division and have the best record in baseball.
In a game that was delayed nearly two hours by rain before the bottom of the eighth inning, trade-deadline rookies got a big boost, with Mark Leiter Jr. getting the final out in the bottom of the ninth and then hitting Dalton Varsho with a pitch after retiring Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer early in the top of the 10th.
He recovered to whiff on Alejandro Kirk, and LeMahieu did the rest.
“It was one of those games where we had some chances and we ended up taking them,” LeMahieu said.
As he pointed out, the Yankees only had one hit in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position, and left 14 runners on base before LeMahieu’s game-winning hit.
The Yankees were down 2-0 going into the sixth inning but got a run from the bottom half of their lineup, with singles by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Volpe to start the inning and a subsequent steal of a double.
Grisham’s bounding ball to first base allowed Chisholm to score, making the score 2 to 1. Volpe then advanced to third base on a pinch hit for LeMahieu, who then tied the game on a sacrifice fly.
Juan Soto hit his 28th home run of the season, hitting a ball the other way to the visiting relievers in left-center field to give the Yankees the lead.
Gerrit Cole also had a mostly strong start in his first appearance since missing Tuesday with fatigue and having his start postponed for five days.
This came after the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner struggled against the Mets.
Cole allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings.
“I think we’re playing better baseball and it’s paying off,” Cole said. “It’s probably best to just keep your head down and keep moving forward.”
The afternoon started tough for the Yankees, who ended the inning without scoring with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning.
Then Cole fizzled out in the second inning, and Toronto got behind by two runs on four consecutive hard-hit balls off the right-hander.
Guerrero hit another double off Cole in the top of the third inning, but was out at third base because he wasn’t serious about stealing.
Cole settled down after that. After Guerrero’s double, he retired 10 of the next 11 batters he faced and didn’t allow a hit until he left the game in the sixth inning.
In the top of the eighth inning, Tommy Kahnle allowed a routine fly to left-center field by leadoff hitter Joey Loperfido.
Grisham was in position to make the catch, but Aaron Judge came charging in from the left and Grisham dropped the ball for a double-base error.
With one out and two walks loading the bases, Clay Holmes came to the mound and gave up a sacrifice fly by Kirk to tie the game.
