NEW YORK -- A couple of days removed from the nailbiting loss in the series finale against the Braves, manager Aaron Boone spoke frankly on Tuesday about the quiet stretch that the Yankees’ offense has found itself in recently -- one that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Entering the opener vs. the Mariners, the club’s post-All-Star break stretch has been a slog with the bats: It was collectively hitting .199 (last in the Majors) with a .625 OPS (29th).
Still, even Boone’s honest assessment was tinged with a certain level of optimism that has felt like the manager’s trademark skill during his tenure.
“Been a struggle -- several weeks now where it’s been difficult for us scoring runs, an area we’ve got to be better, and we know that,” Boone said. “The good thing is that we’ve had to play in a lot of really close games day in and day out, and [we’ve] done a good job against a lot of good teams winning those games.”
That tightrope walk continued on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. After the Yankees went down in the sixth inning on a Randy Arozarena home run off starter Ryan Weathers, they stormed back in the seventh frame thanks to two-run singles by Ryan McMahon and Trent Grisham that fueled New York’s 4-1 win against Seattle.
The rally combined with another scoreless showing from the Yankees’ bullpen to complete the club’s third straight comeback win. Since July 9, 10 of the club’s 17 victories have been of the comeback variety. New York is now up to 30 comeback wins on the season, four shy of its mark from the 2025 season. It can’t be good on the nerves, but there’s the sense that the trend can help build a taste for resilience.
“I hope it serves us well in the end; that’s what we’re going with,” Boone said. “I think that there’s value in playing these games and proving we can win in these games. It’s a testament to just how good the pitching’s been holding us in.
“But also, as we’ve struggled through some offense, we’ve also come up big in some spots. And tonight was more of that.”
Prior to the seventh inning, it seemed that the winning side would only need one run to prevail, especially with the way that Weathers -- who tossed 5 2/3 solid innings of one-run ball -- and Mariners starter Bryan Woo were throwing.
Weathers came into the matchup sporting a career-high 17 2/3-inning scoreless streak, and he extended it to 22 2/3 innings before the solo blast from Arozarena. It was the franchise’s fourth-longest single-season scoreless streak in the past 25 years, behind Clarke Schmidt (28 1/3), Gerrit Cole (25 2/3) and CC Sabathia (23 2/3).
Largely shelving his four-seam fastball, Weathers sported a healthy five-pitch mix over his 106 pitches -- leading with his sinker (27%), changeup (24%) and slider (23%). The result was a two-hit showing with four strikeouts (and three walks sprinkled in), keeping the Mariners’ lineup off balance despite the lengthy at-bats.
“I think it’s just trusting the game plan, trusting [Austin] Wellsy behind the plate,” Weathers said. “I feel like we’re starting to work real well as a battery together. I just want to give the team a chance to win, that’s my job.”
Luis García Jr. led off the seventh with a laced double off the right-field wall off reliever Michael Rucker, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed him with a single through the right side of the infield to move García over to third base (the Yankees’ first hit with a runner in scoring position on the evening). After Chisholm swiped second as George Lombard Jr. struck out, McMahon poked a grounder through the left side of the infield for his two-run knock.
Grisham came up following Wells’ single -- on a pop-up in shallow right field that somehow landed harmlessly -- with the bases loaded to repeat McMahon’s feat and give the Yankees a three-run lead. And in an instant, the game was back in the capable hands of the club’s bullpen, with Brent Headrick tossing another scoreless relief inning and David Bednar converting his 17th straight save opportunity.
But what continues to be striking is who keeps showing up in these comeback wins with the Yankees’ biggest stars still working their way back.
McMahon entered Tuesday hitting just .216 with runners in scoring position, while Grisham barely eclipsed that mark at .225. The phrase “they don’t ask how, they ask how many” keeps coming to mind as the club climbed to 15 games above .500 (67-52), and a similar refrain came from those who spoke postgame -- to the point where one starts to believe this may just be the team’s identity.
“I think it’s a slow heartbeat,” McMahon said. “I think we know we got the guys, especially pitching-wise, to keep us in the game. And then we just got to break through.”