Yanks Walk Away with Win in 1st Game of Doubleheader. NY 11 Toronto 2

April 28, 2025 paperbacklou 2025 0
Austin Wells with bases-loaded, bases-clearing, 3-RBI double to break the game open in the 3rd.

It’s a good thing they postponed the prior game on Saturday — a warm, beautiful day for baseball when, after a white-rain thunderstorm from 12:45 to 1:10 pm, it didn’t rain at all, as expected. But the game was postponed to a create a double header on Sunday — a cold, blustery day with temperature 15 degrees colder — around 60 — with winds whipping.

All for good because the Yankees swept the double header — winning game 1 by the score of 11-2, and the 2nd game 5-1.

The Yanks walked away with a win in game 1 — literally — as Kevin Gausman lost the strike zone in the 3rd inning, walking 5 Yankees — including 2 walks with the bases loaded to give NY a 3-1 lead before Austin Wells broke the game open with a bases-clearing double to make it 6-1.

That was more than enough runs for Yankee Ace Max Fried, who didn’t have his best stuff at first, but grinded through 6 innings of 6-hit, 1-run ball for the win to go 5-0 1.43 on the year.

NY added 3 more runs in the 5th, highlighted by an Anthony Volpe homer and Oswaldo Cabrera RBI double, and added a few more runs late for the rout.

All the guys who had been slumping at bottom of the Yankee lineup again excelled — Volpe going 2-3, Cody Bellinger going 1-3, Jazz Chisholm Jr. going 1-4, and Austin Wells going 2-5. Aaron Judge went 2-4 to raise his average to .412. Paul Goldschmidt went 2-4 to raise his average to .369. A real feel-good day for all.

“I didn’t really have too much command of the off speed stuff early on,” said Max Fried afterwards. “It was a really big game being able to trust Austin (Wells) back there; being able to get me back in my stuff, and follow the game plan. Just staying in it as long as we can., and when the guys went out and put up the 6 spot, it was a matter of how many innings I could put up.”

NY improves to 16-11 with the 1st game win; Toronto drops to 13-14.

1. Fried Grinds Through and Is Great Again

Max Fried struggled through the first few innings, before getting into rhythm in the 5th and 6th.

The game began with a leadoff infield single to 3rd by Bo Bichette who reached 2nd on a throwing error by Oswaldo Cabrera. Bichette moved to 3rd on a wild pitch by Fried, and scored on a groundout by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Fried then walked Anthony Santander, got George Springer to fly out, but allowed a 2 out single to Alejandro Kirk, and walked Andres Gimenez.

With bases loaded and 2 outs — Fried got Clement to fly out to right and a big inning was averted. Toronto 1 NY 0.

  • Fried also roughed it in the 2nd — allowing consecutive 1-out singles to Myles Staw and Bichette. But they attempted a double steal and Austin Wells gunned Straw out at 3rd for the 2nd out. Fried got Guerrero to fly out to end the inning.
  • And Fried allowed a 1-out double in the top of the 3rd to George Springer, before getting 2 groundouts to end the inning.
  • By the top of the 4th Fried had a 6-1 lead, and after allowing a leadoff single to Clement, got ground out, ground out, fly out to end the inning.
  • By the 5th Fried was finally in rhythm with a 1-2-3 inning including 2 strikeouts, and then a 1-2-3 inning in the 6th — fly out, ground out, ground out.

His line: 6 IP, 6 Hits, 1 run, 3 K’s, 2 walks in 101 pitches.

2. Gausman Loses It in 3rd

Meanwhile Kevin Gausman was on his game, which meant it looked like it would be a long afternoon for Yankee hitters. Gausman blew through the 1st inning, striking out Ben Rice and Aaron Judge, and getting Bellinger on a groundout back to him.

He got 2 groundouts to start the 2nd, before Anthony Volpe — who just started to hit the prior game — ripped a double to center. But Austin Wells grounded out and Gausman was still cruising.

But he lost it in the 3rd.

With the wind swirling, he got Jasson Dominguez to fly out to left to begin the inning, then walked Oswaldo Cabrera in a 7-pitch at bat where Cabrera fouled off 2 pitches. That seemed to trigger a bout of wildness as he then walked Ben Rice on 6 pitches, and Aaron Judge singled to center, loading the bases.

  • Cody Bellinger hit a sac fly to left, scoring Cabrera for a 1-1 tie.
  • And then Gausman walked Paul Goldschmidt to re-load the bases.
  • And then he walked Jazz Chisholm Jr. on 4 pitches. NY 2 Toronto 1.
  • And then he walked Anthony Volpe in a tough 9-pitch at bat where Volpe fouled off 3 pitches. NY 3 Toronto 1.
  • And then he got ahead of Austin Wells 0-2, but Wells fouled off a fastball, took 3 straight balls to run the count 3-2, fouled off 2 more fastballs, and hit a 3-2 fastball for a bases-clearing double to center. NY 6 Toronto 1.

Gausman exited stage left, yelling at the ump on the strike calls — and was tossed as he was leaving. Still yelling at the ump as he exited the dugout — he fell down the dugout steps.

3. Volpe HR & Oswaldo RBI Double in 5th Makes It 9-1

Volpe — now red hot — homered to right with 1 out in the 5th off Paxton Schultz for a 7-1 Yankee lead.

Austin Wells followed with another double to center, Jasson Dominguez walked, and Oswaldo Cabrera plated them both with a double to right. NY 9 Toronto 1.

4. Bellinger & Goldschmidt Push It to 11-1

Cody Bellinger led off the 6th with a walk off reliever Josh Walker, and next batter Paul Goldschmidt doubled him home. NY 10 Toronto 1.

Bellinger led off the 8th with a double off Dillon Tate, next batter Goldschmidt singled him to 3rd, and he scored on a Jazz Chisolm Jr. ground out. NY 11 Toronto 1.

5. de los Santos and Matzek Finish Up

Yerry de los Santos pitched a shutout 7th and 8th for the Yanks. The 27-year-old, 6’2 righty was signed by NY as a free agent this winter, after coming up with the Pittsburgh Pirate organization. He went 1-1 3.33 in 24 innings for the Pirates last year.

Tyler Matzek, the 34-year-old, 6’3 lefty pitched the 9th for NY. The veteran lefty signed as a free agent with the Yanks in February. He allowed back-to-back 1-out doubles for a run, then walked a batter before getting fly out and pop out for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401695317

 

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