Yankees survive late scare for much-needed win thanks to Trent Grisham's clutch homer
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The 2000 World Series club that the Yankees celebrated Saturday lost 15 of its final 18 regular-season games. It limped into the postseason, ditched its crutches and sprinted to a title.
In the ballpark was living proof that slides that threaten to end seasons don't always end seasons.
'We're certainly hoping for that kind of a run,' Aaron Boone said. 'It's been a tough couple months for us.'
On an Old-Timers' Day that featured a brief alumni game and plenty of star power in The Bronx, the Yankees experienced what has become rare: a nice afternoon during which potential heartbreak morphed into euphoria.
After the pregame festivities, the Yankees grabbed a lead, predictably blew it in gut-wrenching fashion and then watched Trent Grisham blast the tie-breaking home run in a 5-4, exhale of a victory over the Astros in front of the 2000 Yankees and 45,738 in The Bronx.
The Yankees (62-55) won for just a second time in eight games and can bounce back from a two-series losing streak with a rubber-game victory Sunday.
After mostly Camilo Doval, partly rough defense and partly David Bednar coughed up a two-run edge in the top of the eighth, Grisham provided the needed swing in the bottom of the inning.
3 New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil reacts after he is pulled from the game in the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, on August 9, 2025.
JASON SZENES/ NY POST
The outfielder demolished a no-doubter against Bryan King and did not watch the ball land. Grisham remained in the batter's box, stared into his dugout and began his trot as the ball sailed into the second deck.
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Bednar — asked again to record five outs — threw a scoreless ninth to seal a game that had teetered just a few minutes earlier.
In the eighth inning, the seemingly daily Yankees collapse began. With Cam Smith on first, Doval fielded a one-out comebacker from Jesus Sanchez that should have ended the inning. But Doval's errant throw to second pulled Anthony Volpe off the base, recording zero outs instead of two.
The door swung open, the Astros took advantage. Jose Altuve reached out his bat and sent a single into left that Jasson Dominguez chased down and came up throwing. The strong throw probably did not have a chance to nab Smith, but Ryan McMahon did not cut the ball off — which may have surprised catcher Ben Rice, who then saw the ball travel right by him. The run scored, Sanchez advanced to third and Altuve to second.
3 New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton hits an RBI single in the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx on August 9, 2025.
JASON SZENES/ NY POST
After Doval walked Carlos Correa to load the bases in a one-run game, Aaron Boone tried Bednar for a five-out save again, this time less effectively.
Bednar got ahead of Christian Walker, 0-2, before throwing four straight balls to tie the game. The new closer bore down from there, though, striking out Yainer Diaz and Taylor Trammell to escape.
A Yankees lineup that housed both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit Framber Valdez hard, managing four runs on eight hits and four walks in 5 ⅓ innings from the Astros star lefty.
They struck in the first inning, when Paul Goldschmidt (single), Judge (walk) and Cody Bellinger (single) loaded the bases before Stanton walked to score the first run. Rice's sacrifice fly gave the Yankees a lead that would last until the fourth, when Houston tied it up.
The Yankees went ahead in the fifth, when Judge walked without seeing ball four, Valdez ticketed for a pitch-clock violation. Bellinger singled to put a pair on before Stanton hammered a ground ball into left-center for the go-ahead run. Rice followed by at least putting his bat on the ball, a double play adding an insurance run.
Luis Gil served up a leadoff home run to Jeremy Peña on his fourth pitch of the game but settled in from there.
3 New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice hits an RBI ground-rule double in the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium.
JASON SZENES/ NY POST
He struck out the side in the third — three of his seven strikeouts — and allowed just one more run on a fourth-inning RBI single to right field from Carlos Correa. Giancarlo Stanton, making his season debut in the outfield, came up with a strong, one-hopped throw to the plate that was a split-second too late to nab Jesus Sanchez.
Otherwise, Gil scattered six hits and walked one in 5 ⅓ inning in which he built up to 91 pitches and was able to steal an out in the sixth, with Boone attempting to coax as many outs as he could to save an overworked bullpen.
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His lack of production is partly responsible for the fact that the opposite has outscored the Mets, 43-25, during the past dozen games. Both Alonso and Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, owner of the American League's single-season home run record (62 in 2022), have their sights set on 500 home runs – a likely guarantor of a plaque in the Hall of Fame gallery. Judge has hit 352 and plays home games in a far more favorable ballpark. But Judge, 33, is fighting age as well as enemy pitchers. He was hitting .392 on June 12 but .239 in 41 games since. Even a 10-day IL respite that resulted from an elbow injury hasn't helped the sleeping slugger. In four games since returning, he is 3-for-15 with no extra-base hits. Injuries have intervened on both sides. Yankees starting pitchers Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt both went down with elbow injuries that required Tommy John surgery. The Mets were forced to improvise when Manaea, Montas, Canning, and projected staff ace Kodai Senga were sidelined. For the first three months of this season, the Yankees coasted. They had the best record in the big leagues on June 12 at 42-25. Judge was flirting with .400 and Fried was the front-runner for the Cy Young Award, which would have been his first. But Fried has been floundering since, posting a 7.00 ERA over his last seven starts while insisting the blister issues he encountered earlier this year had not returned. 'We've been through a bad two months,' manager Aaron Boone told reporters, 'but we're still in playoff position now. You can pick out a number of teams that were in worse position than we are but still went on that run. We have the people to do that.' Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, a former Yankees coach under Boone, agreed. 'We can't be looking at the standings,' he told Mike Puma of The New York Post. 'We have got to start getting the job done.' Posting a 5.18 team ERA in August – especially when coupled with the anemic attack – won't do it. 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