Yankees can't complete sweep of Marlins as rally falls short in ninth
Yankees pinch-hitter J.C. Escarra reacts after striking out to end the game against the Miami Marlins at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Brad Penner
The Yankees’ 7-6 loss to the Marlins on Sunday at the Stadium was defined by blown opportunities: a squandered lead in the eighth and shortcomings with runners in scoring position.
The Yankees entered the eighth with a 4-3 lead, but Fernando Cruz, Jake Bird and Ryan Yarbrough combined to allow four runs. Cruz issued a one-out walk before being relieved by Bird, who loaded the bases with a four-pitch walk and a hit batsman on his next pitch before giving up pinch hitter Graham Pauley’s two-run double. Yarbrough then allowed a two-run single by Xavier Edwards.
“I just need to be better about getting my breath and executing pitches,” said Bird, who was charged with three earned runs and the loss. “Just didn’t do it right away. Had one get away from me after the walk, and by then it’s time to bear down, and I just didn’t do my job. I gave them freebies. You should never, ever give freebies. That’s not big-league baseball, and it’s just not good.”
He added, “Just not a good day. But going to be better moving forward and try not to let this happen again.”
Jazz Chisholm Jr. had a two-out, two-run double in the ninth to bring the Yankees within 7-6, but after Anthony Bender intentionally walked Austin Wells to put the winning run on base, pinch hitter J.C. Escarra struck out swinging on three pitches.
The Yankees failed to capitalize on some good opportunities, going 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and leaving 11 men on base. They had runners on second and third with none out in the third, but Giancarlo Stanton grounded out, Chisholm flied out to shallow center and Wells struck out. Chisholm hit inning-ending groundouts with runners on second and third in the fifth and with first and third in the seventh.
Of the announced 34,807 in attendance, those who stuck around through a 3-hour, 35-minute rain delay witnessed an incredibly deflating loss, but the Yankees (7-2) are tied with the Brewers and Dodgers for MLB’s best record.
A day after the Yankees-Marlins game lasted 3:49 — the longest nine-inning game in the pitch-clock era — Sunday’s game required 3:24 to complete. A game scheduled to begin at 1:35 p.m. concluded at 8:34.
“It’s part of it, playing in the Northeast,” Aaron Boone said. “We’re used to days like this where you have those delays or whatever. If anything, coming off a long game last night probably gave us a little chance to recover a little bit more, and so it wasn’t a big issue.”
Max Fried wasn’t at his sharpest but delivered a ho-hum quality start — allowing three runs, five hits and three walks and striking out four in 6 2⁄3 innings — and exited with the Yankees leading 4-3.
After Fried allowed his first run of the season on Otto Lopez’s two-out RBI single in the first, Ben Rice answered with a three-run blast — a 110-mph scorcher off Pete Fairbanks that was measured at 410 feet and landed about 10 rows deep in the second deck in rightfield — in the bottom half to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. Aaron Judge scored on an error in the third to make it 4-1, and Fried was disappointed to leave with the lead down to one run.
“I didn’t do a good enough job, and that’s the frustrating part, especially when the offense comes back,” he said. “I give up one in the first and then Ben hits the home run to really do it, and then I end up giving up three, so it cuts down the lead. Some things that definitely could have been avoided.”
Edwards’ two-out RBI double in the fourth made it 4-2, and Miami cut it to 4-3 in the sixth when Jakob Marsee scored on Heriberto Hernandez’s grounder to shortstop Jose Caballero, with Hernandez reaching when Caballero’s high throw to first drew Rice off the bag.
The Marlins (6-3) had runners on first and third and none out in the sixth, but good defense by the Yankees — and successful challenges by Boone after questionable umpiring — limited any further damage.
Fried picked off Hernandez at first for the first out of the inning (he initially was ruled safe by first-base umpire Tom Hanahan) and Caballero gunned down Lopez at home for the second out (plate umpire Manny Gonzalez ruled on the field that Wells missed the tag, though he clearly tagged Lopez, who seemed to never touch home plate, on the elbow). Fried got out of the inning on Edwards’ 6-4 groundout.
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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