CLEVELAND — Oswaldo Cabrera got off to a strong start this season, but was frozen this week after the Marlins pitched a trio of left-handed pitchers against the Yankees.
The third baseman returned to action Saturday and picked up where he left off.
In the first game of a doubleheader at Progressive Field on a day when the Yankees wasted several golden scoring chances, Cabrera hit a two-run homer that sealed a 3-2 victory over the Guardians. finished.
In the 6th inning, Cabrera’s 3rd home run in his 10th game of the season gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead.
From there, the Guardians held on with Clark Schmidt’s two runs, and the Yankees’ bullpen (Caleb Ferguson, Ian Hamilton (twice), Clay Holmes) hung on for the win.
In a battle between the two teams with the best records in the American League, the Yankees (11 wins, 3 losses) won the first round against the Guardians (9 wins, 4 losses).
Schmidt struggled at times on Saturday, recording five strikeouts and a career-high five walks over five innings while struggling in spots.
He looked ready to go deep into the game, which would help in the first game of the doubleheader, before running into trouble late on.
In the fourth inning, Schmidt gave consecutive walks to the seventh and eighth batters in the lineup, rousing the bullpen.
However, he kept the shutout intact by forcing Brayan Rocchio into an inning-ending double play.
Schmidt then had a chance to start in the sixth inning, but allowed back-to-back singles before being relieved by Ferguson.
The left-handed pitcher struck out Jose Ramirez, walked Josh Naylor to load the bases, and jammed Tyler Freeman to hit a sweet grounder up the middle.
Gleyber Torres defended it and slid to second base, but was spared a wild send to first base and Freeman reached safety, giving him a two-run lead.
The Yankees stranded nine runners and went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Among them was Trent Grisham, who hit two grounder double plays with the bases loaded, one of which was an RBI hit, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead going into the second inning.
Juan Soto led off with a walk in the third inning, but was obliterated on a controversial play.
Aaron Judge flew to shallow center field, but on a day when the wind wreaked havoc on anything that flew into the air, Soto was more than halfway to second base when he caught the ball.
Center fielder Tyler Freeman threw back to first base, where Soto tried to retrieve his bag and ran into Josh Naylor.
Soto was called safe on the field, but the Guardians contested the call and he was called out.
Soto and Aaron Boone appeared to argue that Soto should have been safe for obstruction, but the referees did not comply.
