The New York Yankees secured a 12-8 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night at Busch Stadium, despite missing key players from their lineup. The win clinched a Players’ Weekend series victory for the Yankees.
Ben Rice led the offense with seven runs batted in, matching his career high, while Trent Grisham scored four times—a personal best. The team hit three home runs during the game, including one each from Ryan McMahon, Aaron Judge, and Rice.
“On a night like tonight, and any night when we’ve got guys who are down that we normally have in a lineup, it just speaks to how deep we are,” Rice said. “We’ve got so many guys up and down the lineup who are everyday guys or not that can contribute in different ways. We’ve got a really good lineup.”
Cody Bellinger (illness), Paul Goldschmidt (knee sprain), and Giancarlo Stanton (lower body soreness) were all unavailable for the game. Despite these absences, the remaining Yankees hitters delivered an effective performance against St. Louis starting pitcher Sonny Gray.
“It was a great night for us,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Especially when you’re going against Sonny Gray, that’s a tough draw … great night offensively, pretty much everything you could expect.”
Starting pitcher Max Fried allowed seven earned runs on eight hits over five-plus innings but credited his teammates for supporting him at the plate.
“They can do this any night,” Fried said. “It’s a deep lineup. Even the bottom of the order creates havoc.
“We’re definitely multi-dimensional, especially on the offensive side. They’re able to cover up mistakes, especially on my end tonight. They were able to really pick me up.”
Fried has struggled recently with his performance on the mound.
“It’s been going the same way for me for a little bit now,” Fried said about his recent starts. “Felt like I got behind some guys and was able to make some pitches, but that’s kind of been my career,” he added. “I’ve been able to, even if I’m behind the count, still find a way to be able to get a ground ball, get some weak contact, get some outs. It’s frustrating in this stretch that I haven’t been able to do that. It’s putting us in holes, so I definitely have to change something.”
Grisham collected four hits—his second such game this season—and José Caballero contributed with three runs scored while filling in for injured outfielders.
“Talk about quality at-bats and controlling the zone, that’s what ‘Grish’ does,” Boone said. “He was obviously great tonight. On base five times, puts everyone in a good spot. Puts Benny and the rest of the middle of the order in a good spot, because you’re seeing a lot of pitches, you’re on base, you’re creating problems.”
Ryan McMahon hit his first home run as a Yankee since being acquired from Colorado at this year’s trade deadline; Judge homered against St. Louis for the first time in his career.
With this win and another loss by Cleveland’s Guardians on Saturday night—the Yankees expanded their lead in pursuit of an American League Wild Card spot heading into September play.
General manager Brian Cashman had previously commented that he expected postseason competition would remain intense throughout August and September but noted victories like Saturday’s help maintain momentum despite injuries: “dogfight” throughout the season.
Boone summarized: “Just a ton of tough, gritty at-bats… A lot of damage mixed in. Just a really good night for us.”
