Jazz Chisholm, Anthony Volpe homers back up Carlos Rodon gem as Yankees top Guardians

New York Post

5 days ago

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The new-look left side of the infield teamed up with the lefty who has definitely had a new look about him this year.
The Yankees rode back-to-back home runs from their new third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. and shortstop Anthony Volpe, which backed seven brilliant, one-run innings from Carlos Rodón in a series-opening 3-2 victory over the Guardians in front of 40,683 on a gorgeous Tuesday night in The Bronx.
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The Yankees (37-22) have won seven of their past nine games and moved to 23-15 against teams that currently have a record of at least .500, relying upon two seventh-inning swings and shutdown pitching to dent the club they met in the ALCS last year.
4 Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts after he scores on his solo home run during the seventh inning on June 2.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Rodón and righty Tanner Bibee were locked in a pitchers' duel in which both bent in the seventh.
The Guardians scored once in the top of the inning to tie the game on a series of plays that were not entirely Rodón's fault. José Ramírez snapped a streak of 17 straight Guardians set down by chopping a well-placed single through the middle then stole second.
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David Fry sent a hard-hit ground ball to the right side, and DJ LeMahieu — kept at second base while the Yankees moved Chisholm to third — dove for the ball, reached it in time but could not knock it down, deflecting it into right field for what became a game-tying single.
But Rodón escaped further damage in the inning, which mattered in the bottom half.
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The first pitch Chisholm saw in his third at-bat off the injured list was blasted to right field for a go-ahead home run.
After missing five weeks and after deferring to LeMahieu (and Yankees brass) in shifting to third base, Chisholm showed no signs of rust and watched his laser go, nailed a jump shot around first base and celebrated in the dugout.
4 Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón reacts on the mound after the Cleveland Guardians' Carlos Santana lines out, ending the fourth inning.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The celebration had barely ceased when the next batter, Volpe, barreled a full-count sweeper from Bibee and sent it screaming to left field to add some insurance that a Luke Weaver-less bullpen ended up needing.
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With the closer officially placed on the injured list earlier in the day, Mark Leiter Jr. pitched a scoreless eighth before Devin Williams survived a stressful ninth.
In his return to the closing role, Williams allowed a run — on a double from Carlos Santana and a soft single from Daniel Schneemann that found a hole in the right side — but Williams induced a fly out from Bo Naylor to strand the potential tying run on second.
4 Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu hits an RBI single, driving home Jazz Chisholm Jr., during the fifth inning.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
4 Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe watches his solo home run during the seventh inning.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
The Yankees escaped on a night they finished with just five hits, did not put a ball in play until the second inning, did not reach base until an Aaron Judge walk in the fourth and did not record a hit until they got a break in the fifth.
In that inning, Chisholm should have been punched out on a sweeper that landed in the zone and was called a ball. Given another chance, he looped a bloop single into left to eliminate Bibee's shot at history.
After a walk from J.C. Escarra, LeMahieu lined a two-out single into right to give the Yankees their first run and the only one that was scored by either side until the seventh.
Apart from that unfortunate seventh, Rodón was efficient in breezing past Cleveland over seven five-hit, one-walk, eight-strikeout innings.
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He allowed two hits in the first — and struck out a pair to escape two-on trouble — three hits in the seventh and zero in between those innings.
The lefty, who has looked like a completely different pitcher this year, ran his scoreless-inning streak to 20 before LeMahieu couldn't keep the ball in the infield.