Yankees' Jose Caballero hits walk-off single in two-run 9th to help club secure playoff berth
The Yankees mob Jose Caballero after his walk-off RBI single during the ninth inning against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
There were moments in this season where it looked inevitable. There were others when it looked improbable. But the Yankees have been coming on strong for six weeks and here, in the final week of the season, they’ve punched their ticket to the playoffs.
They did it in dramatic fashion, scoring two runs in the ninth to take down the White Sox, 3-2, before 38,318 at the Stadium. Jose Caballero, a trade deadline pickup from the Rays, battled Chicago righty Steven Wilson through nine pitches and sent a flare into centerfield, a walk-off single that drove in Aaron Judge from second.
Asked what he was thinking as he fouled off four two-strike pitches, Caballero replied, “I had to get the job done.”
“I just tried to put the ball in play and I’m glad it worked out,” he said.
“[Caballero] gets down in the count, lays off some tough pitches and then spoil, spoil, and is able to dump one out there,” manager Aaron Boone said. “A great moment for him and it’s great for us to check that box and know we’re going back to October baseball.”
The mob scene behind first base as the Yankees rushed Caballero paled in comparison to the celebration in the clubhouse minutes later. Champagne flowed freely and every Yankee ended up soaked.
Asked about a season in which the Yankees started fast — 17 games over .500 — then went through a slide where they lost 31 of 51 games and clung to the last wild-card spot by a half game over Cleveland on Aug. 10 before now winning 27 of 39, Judge said, “It was always right there in front of us. We’re excited about getting in, but we’ve got bigger things planned.”
Next up is the pursuit of the AL East crown. The Yankees’ win, combined with Boston’s win in Toronto, shaved the Blue Jays’ lead to one game. The Yankees need to pick up two games in the standings in the last five days because Toronto holds the tiebreaker.
“The expectation here is to win and this is the first step,” Cody Bellinger said. “We’re playing really well and ultimately we have a lot more to do.”
The ninth-inning rally started with singles by Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells. Trent Grisham hit into a 4-6-3 double play and Judge was intentionally walked to put runners on the corners. With Bellinger at the plate and the count full, Chicago lefty Brandon Eisert airmailed ball four to the backstop, a wild pitch that brought Volpe in with the tying run.
Wilson came on and Caballero put his flare right in front of charging centerfielder Michael A. Taylor.
Tuesday’s win put the Yankees in the playoffs for the eighth time in nine years and 26th time in 31 seasons, the most of any franchise over that span. Additionally, Boone became the second person to make the playoffs in seven of his first eight seasons as a major-league manager, joining the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts.
Yankees starter Luis Gil pitched solidly Tuesday, though he still struggled with his command. He had thrown five innings of one-hit ball before the White Sox tagged him for a pair of runs in the sixth on Colson Montgomery’s two-run homer after Kyle Teel’s fly ball fell between Grisham and Judge for a miscommunication-assisted single.
Well’s run-scoring double in the second had given the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
The Yankees have had their sights set on returning to the World Series since they lost the 2024 Fall Classic to the Dodgers. As Jazz Chisholm Jr. said of that loss, “it feels like yesterday.”
“This roster is a one of a kind roster,” he added. “I always believed that this team was the best team in the league. [It’s] the way we come together, the amount of talent and the way that everybody on this team wants to win a ring. That’s what makes me believe in this team.”
“We’ve got the right guys who have the right mindset and that’s what I think it really takes: having the right mindset and doing the little things, the little details, that win us games in October.”
The Yankees are now guaranteed a spot in an AL Wild Card Series, but chasing down the Blue Jays would mean much more. They have a chance for a bye to the AL Division Series, the top seed and home field advantage through the AL Championship Series.
“We haven’t got hot at the exact right time, you know,” Boone said. “The right time is still to come.”
Notes & quotes: The Yankees tweaked their starting rotation and moved Carlos Rodon’s start from Friday’s to Thursday, the last game of the three-game series with the White Sox. It sets the lefthander up to pitch Game 2 of a potential Wild Card Series on one extra day of rest, if the Yankees end up playing in one.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
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