Jazz Chisholm Jr. received an ovation before his first at-bat Tuesday night, and he later delivered the biggest hit in the latest win for the New York Yankees.
After getting a tiebreaking homer from Chisholm in his return from an oblique injury, the Yankees seek their sixth straight home victory when they face the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday.
New York, 18-6 over its past 24 games, returned home from a 6-3 West Coast trip and hung on for a 3-2 victory over Cleveland in the series opener.
Chisholm made a massive impact after a 28-game absence by getting two hits and playing solidly at third base in his first appearance there this season. He singled for New York’s first hit in the fifth inning, scored from second on a base hit by DJ LeMahieu and then hit a homer in the seventh after the Guardians tied the game against Carlos Rodon.
The homer occurred after Chisholm entered the game with a .181 average, though he was 5-for-17 (.294) in his final six games before getting hurt.
“Just really good to see,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “You miss whatever a month or whatever. To jump right back in and impact the game in such a profound way I’m sure feels really good.”
The Yankees are trying to win a series for the eighth time in nine tries. They have eight wins in their past 11 one-run games to boost their record to 11-11 overall in that category.
Cleveland has dropped five of eight after losing the opener in New York. Jose Ramirez singled twice to extend his on-base streak to 29 games, and Carlos Santana extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a ninth-inning double off Devin Williams.
Two batters after the Guardians’ David Fry hit a game-tying single in the seventh, Gabriel Arias singled but made a key out when he was thrown out at second trying to stretch his hit.
“He was trying to get into scoring position,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “It probably wasn’t the best read, but I want our guys to continue to be aggressive and put pressure on the defense.”
Clarke Schmidt (2-2, 3.95 ERA), who has completed six innings in four of his past five outings, will start Wednesday for the Yankees. Schmidt last pitched May 28 against the Los Angeles Angels when he allowed four hits over six innings in a 1-0 win.
Schmidt is 1-1 with a 5.12 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) against the Guardians. The right-hander took a loss on April 21 in Cleveland when he allowed five runs on seven hits in four innings.
Cleveland’s Luis L. Ortiz (2-6, 4.40 ERA) will attempt to stop personal a seven-game winless streak when he gets the ball on Wednesday. Since beating the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 18, Ortiz is 0-4 with a 3.79 ERA. He yielded one run on seven hits over six innings in a 4-1 defeat to the Los Angeles Angels on Friday.
Ortiz is 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA in three career starts against the Yankees. He took a loss against New York on April 23 when he gave up four runs, five hits and five walks in 4 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
