Aaron Judge, Paul Goldschmidt belt late home runs in Yankees' 3-2 comeback win over Mariners

Paul Goldschmidt hit a home run to lead off the seventh and Aaron Judge a homer to lead off the eighth as the Yankees completed a comeback win over the Mariners, 3-2, on Wednesday afternoon in Seattle. 

New York improved to 25-18 on the year and took two out of three in Seattle (23-19).

Here are the takeaways…

– The Yanks got traffic on Mariners starter Luis Castillo with a Judge single and Cody Bellinger double with two down in the first and a pair of singles in the third. But New York would strand all four runners as the Seattle starter got five big strikeouts, including Judge and Bellinger in the third. 

Castillo settled into a solid groove and kept the Yanks out of creating anything until there were two outs in the fifth when Anthony Volpe cracked a double off the wall in right on a 3-2 fastball up and over the plate. Jasson Dominguez put the Yanks on the board by blistering a first-pitch double just over first baseman Rowdy Tellez‘s glove for an RBI double. Batting as a lefty, he took the down and in slider and rocketed 112.1 mph off the bat.

– Goldschmidt came on as a pinch-hitter to start the seventh and launched the first pitch thrown by Mariners reliever Gabe Speier to tie the game. The lefty’s 94 mph fastball was in the perfect spot for Goldschmidt to turn on and drive 377 feet down the line in left (107 mph off the bat). He added a single in the ninth to finish 1-for-2 off the bench, raising his average to .346 on the year.

– Judge singled on a line drive his first time up, but went down swinging the next two times against Castillo. Carlos Vargas wasn’t so lucky as his 1-1 slider went right down the plite and Judge clobbered it: 444 feet and 117.7 mph off the bat for his 15th home run and 41st RBI of the year to put the Yankees ahead for the first time of the day. With the 2-for-4 day, Judge boosted his slash line to .412/.497/.782 for a 1.279 OPS.

– Will Warren, coming off his best start of the season, looked in fine form, retiring seven of the first eight batters he faced with six strikeouts. But an error and a one-out single to right led to a third-inning mound visit from pitching coach Matt Blake. The righty got a swinging bunt for the second out, but walked the bases loaded on four straight out of the zone to the dangerous Jorge Polanco. 

Unfortunately, Julio Rodriguez laced a first-pitch sinker on the outside corner down the right field line for a two-run double on a ball that just stayed fair. Cal Releigh hit the next pitch even harder, but it just hung up on center for Trent Grisham to end the inning.

Warren found the groove again, retiring five of the next six with three more strikeouts to give him a new career-high. A two-out single by Polanco led to another visit from Blake as Rodriguez dug in. The Mariners’ star put a charge into a 3-2 sweeper that hung over the plate, but Dominguez camped under the high fly to make the catch on the warning track for a 374-foot out.

His final line: 5 innings, two runs (both unearned), three hits, one walk, one HBP, and nine strikeouts on 92 pitches (53 strikes).

– Out of the bullpen, Tyler Matzek put himself in a spot of bother, allowing a leadoff walk and a one-out four-pitch walk in the sixth. But, after Blake paid a visit, the lefty got Leody Taveras swinging before Ian Hamilton closed the inning. The righty added a pair of strikeouts in a clean seventh.

Fernando Cruz, the first Yankee to pitch with a lead on the day, got the eighth, and allowed a one-out single that one-hopped the wall in right that Bellinger played well to hold Raleigh at first. And after getting ahead of Randy Arozarena 0-2, he hit him with a 2-2 sinker to put the go-ahead run on base. But, after another Blake mound visit, a first-pitch sinker to Dylan Moore resulted in a room service 6-4-3 inning-ender.

Luke Weaver, who threw 21 pitches over two innings on Tuesday night, needed just 15 to strike out the side and earn his fourth save of the season.

– DJ LeMahieu got the start at second and was charged with a throwing error in the third, but wasn’t really at fault. He threw right to the bag, but confusion between Ben Rice and Warren about who was covering led to neither catching the ball. 

He finished the day 1-for-3 with a walk.

– Grisham, who hit two homers in the first game of the series, made a bid for a leadoff shot and had it over the wall in center, but Rodriguez ranged back and, with a leap, pulled the ball back in play for a 397-foot out. (It would have been a homer in 13 ballparks, but not Yankee Stadium.) He finished the day 0-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts.

Game MVP: Yankees pitchers

New York’s quintet totaled 15 strikeouts and limited the hosts to just five hits as they went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base.

Highlights

What’s next

The Yankees have a day off on Thursday as they get ready for a Subway Series in The Bronx against the Mets starting on Friday night.

The Yanks are set to throw Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, and Max Fried.

The boys from Queens are set to start Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning, and David Peterson.

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