NEW YORK -- The Yankees know there is no way to replace Aaron Judge; it’s impossible to subtract a three-time Most Valuable Player and not feel the effects. But even if their rallies look a bit different, they still believe they have enough to win games.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked, stole second base, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Ryan McMahon’s tiebreaking single through the right side, a sequence that proved to be the difference in a 2-1 victory over the Guardians on Thursday at Yankee Stadium.
“You’re always going to miss Aaron Judge, but it’s on us. We’ve got to hold it down,” McMahon said. “We’ve got to find ways to win ballgames, and we might be doing some more stuff like that.”
Judge missed the Cleveland series to undergo testing on his ailing right shoulder and rib cage. That process included a consultation with Dr. Gregory J. Pearl, who specializes in thoracic outlet syndrome.
“He’s the best hitter in the sport, so you know there’s a void there,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But we also have really good players that can pick it up, too. I love the way we played the game today, but you’re not replacing Aaron Judge.”
Instead, Chisholm’s fourth-inning sacrifice fly facing Slade Cecconi and the seventh-inning push against reliever Codi Heuer got it done. Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger and Chisholm all stole bases in the win; the Yankees have leaned into their speed, swiping 10 bags over their last four games.
“It kind of sucks not having a three-time MVP in your lineup,” Chisholm said. “At the same time, we all know that we can’t use it as an excuse out there. We’re all baseball players, and we’ve got to go out there and win a game.”
They did on Thursday, thanks in large part to Carlos Rodón, who struck out seven over six efficient innings of one-run ball.
“I’m happy with the swing-and-miss,” Rodón said. “Getting ahead is the No. 1 thing, and just trying to get outs. The strikeouts come. The goal is to go out there and get as many zeroes up on the board for our team, and let the boys go out there and bang.”
There wasn’t too much of that; just five hits in all for New York, which relied more on baserunning and situational at-bats. But Rodón made it work, permitting just two hits -- including Stuart Fairchild’s run-scoring single in the fourth -- while walking three.
“He was out there with his swagger,” Chisholm said.
It was the third consecutive outing in which Rodón allowed just one run, following efforts on May 21 vs. the Blue Jays (5 IP, 1 ER) and May 29 at the Athletics (6 IP, 1 ER). He’s pitched to a 2.88 ERA across 25 innings.
“I feel like the last three have been good, albeit different,” Boone said. “He threw the ball really well against the Blue Jays. Last time against the A’s, it was a struggle early until he got into a good rhythm. Overall today, he was just solid. I’m excited for where he’s at.”
The lead was preserved in part by Max Schuemann, who made a couple of nice defensive plays to highlight his first Major League start in right field.
Filling in for Judge, Schuemann dove to take away a potential Steven Kwan hit in the second inning and jumped at the wall for a Brayan Rocchio drive in the seventh, when winning pitcher Brent Headrick was on the mound.
“He’s been great,” Chisholm said. “His defense has been great. We all knew that he was a pretty good defender before he got over here, so it’s pretty sick to see him just adjust so well to Yankee Stadium.”
Schuemann and José Caballero patrolled right field throughout the Guardians series, and with the Red Sox coming to town on Friday, it’s likely one of them will be out there again. Boone said he’ll make that decision each night -- at least, until having Judge back is a realistic option.
In the meantime, McMahon said the new-look offense should be fine.
“I think we’ll be all right. We’ll be good,” he said. “I think we have the guys who can do a lot of different things with the stolen bases and hit-and-runs. We just might need to pull it out a little bit more.”