CLEVELAND – In the end, Fernando Cruz stood alone in the Yankees’ bullpen.
As compatriot after compatriot was pulled into action in the Yankees’ eventual 7-5, 10-inning win over the Guardians at Progressive field, Cruz remained in the 'pen. Some of his fellow relievers were called in to put out fires. Some were asked to eat innings. But all of that usage ended with closer David Bednar slapping his glove in celebration on the infield after getting Brayan Rocchio to ground out to end the game.
In the words of manager Aaron Boone:
“It wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty.”
How gritty?
Well, Boone was forced to use his whole bench and seven of his eight relievers. Not every move worked, but the right buttons were pushed at the right time.
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 for at least one night, as Monday’s win came with seven runs on nine hits and six walks.
The biggest hit of the night came in the 10th inning, when Cody Bellinger recorded a two-run single off Guardians reliever Shawn Armstrong.
With Cleveland’s infield playing in, Bellinger shot Armstrong’s 2-2 fastball through the hole between shortstop Rocchio and José Ramírez at third to stake the Yankees to a two-run lead.
“I had a job to get done, and I wanted to do that and keep it simple and not do too much,” Bellinger said.
Instead of trying to send a ball to the moon, Bellinger took what he was given with the pitch and put it in the perfect spot.
“That’s why he’s Cody Bellinger,” Boone said with a chuckle.
Bellinger’s big at-bat was set up by a fantastic plate appearance from light-hitting utility infielder Max Schuemann that ended with a walk.
Schuemann entered the game as a pinch-runner for Goldschmidt in the eighth inning, and it looked like that substitution would end up hurting the Yankees considering he was forced to hit in extras instead of Goldschmidt and his 380 career home runs. But he was able to work a five-pitch walk that set up Bellinger’s heroics.
“Just a great at-bat,” Goldschmidt said. “Those were some close pitches. He’s done a great job with that, whether it’s with us or in the Minors.”
The final pitch to Schuemann was initially called a strike, but he immediately challenged the pitch and then started to discard his batting gear while the ABS ruling played out on the video board.
“That actually gave me a little comfort when he started doing that,” Boone said.
Bellinger's heroics helped save an up-and-down (but taxing) day for the bullpen after starting pitcher Will Warren managed to go only 4 1/3 innings thanks to some pesky at-bats from the Guardians.
That ended up working in Cleveland’s favor after Paul Blackburn surrendered a go-ahead home run to Angel Martínez in the sixth inning. But Ryan Yarbrough, Jake Bird, Camilo Doval, Tim Hill and Bednar were able to toss 5 2/3 scoreless innings to close it out.
Hill entered the game in the eighth inning with runners on first and second and one out and was able to toss one scoreless inning. Bednar picked up the win with 1 2/3 scoreless innings on 27 pitches (17 strikes).
“Just a lot of really good things by guys in winning situations,” Boone said.
It featured almost every guy, to be exact, as Boone had to empty his bench and use every reliever but Cruz (who warmed up in both the ninth and 10th innings).
“We’re already a tight-knit group, but I think a game like this brings us closer together,” Warren said.
After the game, Warren said that it felt a bit like a postseason game given how Boone nearly emptied his bench and Guardians manager Stephen Vogt used all but two of his players.
While that movement didn’t result in the cleanest game the Yankees have ever played, it did lead to one of the best wins of the season, especially when you consider it came without Judge.
“All of us in this locker room understand it’s going to take everybody, and today was a great example of that,” Bellinger said.