Yankees sneak past Guardians to avoid sweep as Aaron Judge’s status looms

On a third straight day with a 6-foot-7, 282-pound-size hole in their lineup – and much bigger concerns about how long Aaron Judge’s absence would last than what was happening on the field – the Yankees at least salvaged a series.

Ryan McMahon made sure Carlos Rodón’s strong start did not go to waste, roping a go-ahead single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Yankees to a 2-1 win over the Guardians on Thursday afternoon in The Bronx.

As they awaited word on Judge’s diagnosis – after further imaging on Wednesday night and Thursday morning to determine the extent of his injury near his right rib cage – the Yankees (37-25) had more serious worries than potentially getting swept by the Guardians (36-28).

Carlos Rodón (55) pitches in the first inning when the New York Yankees played the Cleveland Guardians. Robert Sabo for NY Post

But unlike Judge’s injury, the Yankees were at least in control of their own destiny on Thursday and did just enough to secure the win. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr., who had tied the game earlier with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning off Slade Cecconi, got the winning rally started in the seventh when he drew a one-out walk against reliever Codi Heuer. With two outs, he stole second and took third on the next pitch, a wild pitch, before scoring on McMahon’s single through the right side.

Yankees’ Ryan McMahon (19) hits a RBI single scoring Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the seventh inning against the Cleveland Guardians. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

Brent Headrick, Fernando Cruz and David Bednar each threw a scoreless inning of relief to make sure the two runs stood up.

After the Guardians had gotten to both Cam Schlittler and Gerrit Cole in the first two games of the series, Rodón proved to be a much stiffer test on Thursday. The left-hander allowed just one run over six innings, scattering just two singles and three walks while striking out seven in his fifth and sharpest start back from the injured list.

Rodón did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, and it soon turned into the Guardians’ first run. José Ramirez led off the frame with a single, stole second and then tagged up to third on a fly ball to center field. That allowed him to score on Stuart Fairchild’s seeing-eye single through the left side for the 1-0 Guardians lead.

The Yankees quickly answered in the bottom of the frame, though they wasted a chance to do more than just tie the game. Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger got the rally started with back-to-back singles, then each moved up 90 feet on a double steal. Chisholm followed with a sacrifice fly to left field that tied things up 1-1, but Bellinger was thrown out on the play trying to tag up to third – getting there in time but oversliding the bag and getting tagged out by Ramirez.

Max Schuemann, starting in right field in place of Judge, made a pair of nice plays defensively to help out his pitchers. He made a diving grab to end the top of the second inning, robbing Steven Kwan of a hit, and then made a jumping catch just in front of the wall to end the seventh inning, stranding a man on first with Headrick on the mound.