CLEVELAND – From the moment Aaron Judge was held out of the Yankees’ lineup a week ago due to a stress fracture in his right rib, the biggest question on everyone’s mind around the team was how it was going to make up for the loss of Judge’s offensive production.
The Yankees were able to answer that question for at least one night on Monday in a 7-5 10-inning win over the Guardians at Progressive Field.
The biggest hit of the night came in the 10th inning, when Cody Bellinger recorded a two-run single off Guardians reliever Shawn Armstrong.
Bellinger’s hit came in a game when New York’s bullpen had a rocky, and taxing, night. Manager Aaron Boone was forced to turn to his 'pen earlier than he would have liked, and he wound up using seven of his eight relievers. They were able to do just enough to close the door on the Guardians.
It looked like that bullpen had blown it in the sixth inning when Paul Blackburn allowed a home run to Angel Martínez that staked Cleveland to a 5-4 lead.
But the Yankees were able to get that run back an inning later when they tied the game on an RBI groundout from Paul Goldschmidt that was set up by inning-opening singles from Trent Grisham and Ben Rice.
The Yankees had a golden opportunity to get more after they put runners on first and second with one out, but it was wiped away thanks to a fantastic double play from Brayan Rocchio on a ball hit up the middle by Jazz Chisholm Jr.
The Yankees grabbed their first runs in the first inning on a two-run homer from Goldschmidt before adding on with a Bellinger fielder’s choice in the third and a Ryan McMahon home run in the fifth.