Yankees: Good news and bad news from 4-3 wild win over Cleveland

yankees, oswaldo cabrera, aaron hicks
Apr 12, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks, left, and second baseman Oswaldo Cabrera (95) celebrate after the Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees won yet another series today which makes them a perfect 4-4 thus far. Today’s game was absolutely wild from start to finish, and there were moments of chaos right from the get-go. The umpires tried to do everything in their power to give Cleveland the win, even overturning a call that the Guardians didn’t challenge in time. Schmidt pitched another mediocre day’s worth, but the team battled back and won 4-3. 

The Yankees enjoyed some clutch pitching:

Schmidt’s true calling may indeed be the bullpen, despite his own wants to be a starter for the team. He once more struggled to get swings and misses and couldn’t locate all that well. He had to pitch the bottom of the 1st inning twice today, as a diving Hicks snag would be overturned by the umpires — without Francona getting his challenge in the allotted time.  

He would be able to get through the rough first, as he gave up two runs in the opening frame. From there, he would throw 3.0 more innings, giving up another run on a solo shot, and surrendered six hits on the afternoon. He only struck out three, and now his season ERA sits at 8.44. Marinaccio would come in for him in the 5th, and the bullpen would save the day. 

Ron the Don didn’t have his best stuff today but was still able to work around some struggles. After walking two batters and an amazing defensive snag by IKF, he was able to buckle down and strike out both Naylor and Andres Gimenez to get out of the inning unscathed. Following his inning, Michael King would come in and fire two easy innings. 

King put together another nice relief appearance and seems to be working out of his slight struggles to begin the season. He tossed 2.0 innings, got a strikeout, and didn’t allow any baserunners. It’s nice to see King back in a groove. Wandy would come in after him and pitch an easy 8-pitch inning to keep the game tied. 

Clay Holmes continues to thrive and showcase his elite stuff, as he pitched a scoreless 9th inning to knock down the save. He’d work around a few walks after he lost the strike zone but was able to buckle down when it mattered most and strike out Rosario to end the day. Holmes’ last five appearances have been nails. He’s locked down all four save opportunities in that time, struck out eight guys, and has been tossing some elite sinkers. 

The offense picked it up as the game went on:

The offense had an interesting day, all things considered, but were able to hit when it mattered most. Volpe got his first career leadoff appearance today and smacked a huge double off the wall to kick off the afternoon. He put some good swings on the baseball and is starting to look better as the games go by. 

Judgey would keep his on-base streak rolling, and now it’s up to an astonishing 45 games. He is still locked in, and I’m convinced the man doesn’t have an off switch. Rizzo and Stanton struggled today, and for Big G, it wasn’t the best series at the plate. Fortunately, he reached base on an error by Rosario on a screamer he hit to shortstop. However, that shouldn’t be cause for concern, as he’ll likely smash a few HR in the next series. 

Oswaldo Cabrera got another solid base knock, and this year’s Matt Carpenter, aka Franchy Cordero, continues to shine with the organization. He clobbered a game-tying homer in the 7th, giving him his fourth on the season. He’s got 0.5 fWAR on the year through 7 games, which is more than he has his entire career — 0.3 in 227 games. 

Cordero has been a huge part of this team’s success early on and has been quite the revelation. Hopefully, he can keep it up, and the team should continue to play him while he’s hot. Higgy got the Yanks back into it with a massive 2R single off the wall in the 5th inning to bring the boys within one. 

Oswaldo gave the Yanks the lead with a massive go-ahead RBI single in the top of the 9th, as he drove home Gleyber Torres on the huge single off the wall. Oswaldo is finding his footing and continues to put the ball in play, and it was nice to see Gleyber out there after hearing that he had tweeted his hip yesterday. 

Now, the Yankees get set to take on the Twins in the Bronx over the weekend. It’ll be a great weekend of baseball, and Jhony Brito looks to continue his impressive start to his Yanks’ career as he takes the mound tomorrow. The People’s Ace, Nestor Cortes, is on the bump Saturday evening. It’s been a solid start to the year, as the Yankees sit at 8-4 on the young season.