All sorts of problems were on display for the Yankees: infield defense that has been under the microscope again underwhelmed; a couple of misplays extending an inning that would not end; Will Warren could not overcome the problems behind him and could not put batters away; a Yankees bullpen that had been spotty was far worse than that and coughed up lead after lead.
But these issues become minimized when the Yankees offense hums and Aaron Judge destroys baseballs.
In an entertaining matchup that pitted the past two Team USA World Baseball Classic captains against each other, Judge and Mike Trout put on a show for eight innings before Judge’s co-stars stole the spotlight in the ninth.
Trent Grisham — who did not even start yet launched his first two home runs of the season — stepped into a two-run home run to tie the game in the ninth before the Yankees manufactured the game-winner, José Caballero doubling, stealing third and scoring on a walk-off wild pitch to claim an entertaining and back-and-forth 11-10 victory in front of 35,789 in The Bronx on Monday.
The Yankees (9-7) snapped a five-game skid because they outhit all their other issues, their offense awakening in the New York heat and against Angels pitching. It took less than five innings for the Yankees to score seven runs — or more runs than they had scored in each of their previous seven games.
But because of their other issues and because of Trout, they needed to keep adding on.
It was Trout — whose bid for a grand slam died a few feet short earlier in the game — who smoked a three-run home run to tie it 7-7 in the sixth.
A few minutes later, Judge demolished a bullet home run to left that might have dented the pole if angled a few feet to the left, giving the Yankees a lead that they would not hold.
The Yankees bullpen, which traditionally is a strength but has been spotty through the early going this season, let up six runs in 5 ¹/₃ rough innings. Five of those runs could be credited to Trout’s bat.
The Yankees blew leads of 4-0 entering the fourth inning, 7-4 entering the sixth and 8-7 entering the seventh.
But what might have been the most backbreaking loss of the season became arguably the most inspired.
They kept losing leads, and they kept responding. Perhaps most importantly on this night, they batted last.
The Angels had seized control in the seventh and eighth — in the former, two hits and a sacrifice fly off Jake Bird tied the game, before Trout victimized Camilo Doval by demolishing his second homer of the night, a two-run, 445-foot dagger that banked into the visiting bullpen — which made the Yankees reach for their remaining ammunition in the ninth.
The Yankees had a 4-0 lead after the third and a 7-4 edge after the fifth that disappeared.
When Caballero followed a painful foul ball off his foot with a two-run home run on the very next pitch in the second inning, it felt as if the Yankees, and their starting pitcher, would cruise. That changed for the club and Warren in a fourth inning that would not end.
Warren was unable to pitch around shaky defense behind him in the fourth before Fernando Cruz couldn’t find the strike zone, leading to a four-run fourth. Trout then reminded everyone of his all-time greatness in the sixth.
In the sixth, the 2023 WBC Team USA captain watched Adam Frazier reach with a spin-happy hopper that spun past Caballero behind second base and Zach Neto single to center.
And then baseball realities did not reflect nature realities: Trout smacked Bird, crushing a three-run homer into the visiting bullpen to tie the game 7-7.
The Yankees entered play ordinary, a game above .500 having just been swept in Tampa. Judge’s numbers entered play ordinary, hitting just .218 with a sub-.800 OPS with four homers in his 15 games.
Those numbers are now much better after his 47th career multihomer game, surpassing Mickey Mantle for second-most in franchise history. Judge can now set his distant sights on Babe Ruth’s 68.
The night started and nearly ended with Judge, who in the first inning followed a Paul Goldschmidt double by clobbering a homer into the bleachers in left — 456 feet away.
The damage in the frame: 55 pitches thrown by two Yankees pitchers to 10 Angels batters, four unearned runs, one error and one double play not turned and three two-out walks.
Warren could not finish an inning he entered having not allowed a hit largely because neither he nor his defenders could put away Angels batters.
