Yankees show fight before MLB trade deadline as Ryan McMahon's walk-off single caps 11-inning win over Rays

Yahoo

6 days ago

On the eve of the 2025 MLB trade deadline, the Yankees' 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays saw New York waste Will Warren's start and the offense's initial comeback as Devin Williams unraveled in the ninth inning, but Ryan McMahon's walk-off single two frames later capped a fight-filled effort by New York.
Takeaways
Will Warren Warren (6-5, 4.64 ERA) deserved a win. The right-hander allowed one run on six hits while striking out four and walking one in six innings. His 102-pitch outing included 64 strikes. The Rays' lone run came on Brandon Lowe's third-inning double to right field that scored Taylor Walls from third base, a play where Warren's 2-2 curveball at 82 mph landed over the outside lower half of the strike zone but got roped down the line. If not for Warren, the Yankees (59-49) would not have had a chance late.
The Zack Littell-led Rays (54-55) kept New York in check with only two hits -- Ryan McMahon's third-inning double and Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s fourth-inning single -- until the decisive eighth inning. Tyler Grisham's leadoff home run against Bryan Baker injected new life into the Yankees, who rattled off three consecutive singles to take the lead. After knocks by Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton's line drive up the middle put the Yankees in front of a 2-1 lead entering the ninth. The Yankees were lifeless until Grisham's solo shot, and the spark spread into what should have been Stanton's game-winning poke.
Devin Williams unraveled in the ninth inning, immediately walking Junior Caminero before delivering a go-ahead home run to Josh Lowe. Williams' second blown save of the season overshadowed an otherwise great game by the bullpen, which saw Brent Headrick and Yerry De los Santos combine for four strikeouts and one hit across two scoreless innings after relieving Warren. Still, the Yankees' need for bullpen help was on display in a big spot. Will Brian Cashman respond?
Picking up where Grisham and Stanton left off, Anthony Volpe's game-tying home run against Pete Fairbanks with one out in the ninth inning reinforced that the Yankees did not tap out. Unfortunately for New York, Austin Wells literally walked the Yankees out of a potential ninth-inning walk-off. Wells singled after Volpe's homer, but he appeared to not know how many outs there were while making his way back in the director of first base following Grisham's ground out. Wells went from being in scoring position with one out to getting caught in a rundown between first and second before an inning-ending double play, and it cost the Yankees a shot at walking off in the ninth.
Credit Bellinger, whose one-out triple against Edwin Uceta in the 10th inning wiped away Wells' miscue and scored Grisham -- who started the frame on second base -- to tie the game at 4-4. After a two-hit effort, Bellinger has a .283/.336/.517 slash line with 20 home runs and 62 RBI through 99 games -- an undoubted bright spot, especially in what is currently an Aaron Judge-less lineup.
McMahon's walk-off single in the ninth inning scored Chisholm, who started the frame on second base and scored from third after advancing on Kevin Kelly's balk, and capped a back-and-forth game that lingered into extras. McMahon's fly ball to the warning track in center field was enough for the Yankees to finally come out on top and send New York into Thursday's trade deadline with a positive.
Who's the MVP?
Warren, whose gutsy start should not go unnoticed.
Highlights
What's next
The Yankees and Rays finish their four-game series with Thursday's 1:05 p.m. start at Yankee Stadium. Right-handers Marcus Stroman (2-2, 6.09 ERA) and Ryan Pepiot (6-8, 3.42 ERA) are set to pitch.