Amazing Comeback Win with 2 Outs in 9th! NY 3 Atlanta 2 in 10 Innings

August 8, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Ryan McMahon hits 3-2 pitch deep to right for a walk-off sac fly in 10th.

The Yanks were at their darkest depths of Mordor — down 2-0 to Atlanta in the 9th inning with 1 out and about to slip into 3rd place with the Red Sox already having won and the Rays winning their game — when: rookie George Lombard Jr. beat out an infield hit and advanced to 3rd on a throwing error — and then with 2 outs, Austin Wells doubled in a run, Amed Rosario walked, and Ben Rice ripped a shot off the right-centerfield wall for a tie game!

David Bednar then got 3 straight outs in the top of the 10th — helped by a spectacular play at shortstop by George Lombard Jr. to begin the inning, then escaped when Luis Ortiz Jr. made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch of a ball headed to no-man’s land in left for the 3rd out.

And in the bottom of the 10th, after Jose Caballero bunted foul on an 0-2 pitch to strike out, Atlanta intentionally walked Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr. worked the walk of the game to load the bases with 1 out, and Ryan McMahon to hit a 3-2 pitch to deep right for a walk-off sac fly.

Final score NY 3 Atlanta 2 on a Friday night (actually 12:30am Saturday morning) at a HUMID, wet Yankee Stadium — drenched by thunderstorms that delayed the game 2 hrs.

Before all that it was a typical MLB baseball game of the current era — lots of strikeouts, not many hits, and all the runs coming on HR’s. It was a 0-0 tie into the 7th, with both teams sitting at 3 hits. Max Fried was exceptional for NY, pitching a shutout into the 7th. Atlanta starter Tyler Mahle threw a shutout through 6 innings. Austin Riley hit a solo HR off Fernando Cruz in the 8th to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead. Matt Olsen hit a solo HR off Tim Hill in the top of the 9th to make it 2-0 Braves.

“They’re gritty and they’ve played a lot of these games,” said manager Aaron Boone about the Yanks. “Some really good things — obviously on the defensive side a handful of outstanding plays highlighted by Garcia over-the-shoulder there to end the 10th. Grish with the big throw to start things off and help settle Max into getting into a big groove. Max made a couple great plays there. George in the hole.”

“And then some really big at bats against their Leverage guys,” continued Boone, “Where Rosie works that walk to set up Ben Rice — that was a really good patient at bat; George had a big walk to set up Mac; Mac had 0-2…backs-up-against-the-wall kind of at bats and they were able to deliver. And then the pitching did their thing.”

NY improves to 65-51, 4.5 behind Tampa and .5 ahead of the Red Sox. Atlanta drops to 70-46.

1. Fried Great — Shutout Into 7th

Good news for the Yanks — Max Fried was dominant again in his 4th start since spending 2 months on the IL to heal the left elbow bone bruise.

He got into a little trouble in the 1st — allowing a 1 out single  and walk, then a 2-out single by Mauricio Dubon that seemed to score a run as Trent Grisham threw a bullet to 3rd to nail the runner Ozzie Albies. The Yanks appealed the safe call at home and won the challenge — the umps ruled the out was made at 3rd before the runner (Drake Baldwin) scored — so it was the end of the inning!

Fried then worked around a 1-out walk in the 2nd and a leadoff single in the 3rd, then started to roll — pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the 4th and 5th. In the he was helped by a terrific defensive play by Ryan McMahon at 3rd for the 2nd out.

Fried rolled through the 6th too with another 1-2-3 inning and struck out Matt Olson to start the 7th before hitting his pitch count of 90 and being relieved by Fernando Cruz in a 0-0 game.

2. Mahle Great Too — Shutout Through 6

Tyler Mahle was great too — pitching a shutout through 6 innings. Mahle was starting for his first time with Atlanta, after being picked up at the trade deadline from the San Francisco Giants, where he was 3-9 5.13.

Mahle came up with the Reds — and had his best year there in 2021 with a 13-6 3.75 record. The 31-yr-old, 6-3 righty was 6-4 2.18 for Texas last year — missing June thru September on the IL due to a rotator cuff strain. He came back at the end of September and pitched well, and signed a 1-year, $10M contract with the Giants this winter.

Mahle was using a lot of 88-MPH splitters intermixed with an 86-MPH cutter and 94-MPH four-seam fastball to get the Yanks out. He:

  • Worked around a 2-out walk in the 1st,
  • Pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd,
  • Walked Ryan McMahon to lead off the 3rd then struck out the next 3 Yankees, and
  • Finally allowed a hit in the 4th when Heliot Ramos led off with a double. But Mahle got 3 straight outs — foul out, pop out, fly out — to strand the runner.
  • Ryan McMahon doubled with 1 out in the 5th — but again Mahle got a fly out and strike out to end the inning,
  • Then allowed a 2-out single to Luis Garcia Jr. in the 6th but struck out Jazz Chisholm Jr. to keep the score 0-0 through 6.

Mahle finished with 6 IP, 3 hits, 9 K’s and 2 walks.

3. Riley HR Off Cruz in 8th Puts Atlanta Up 1-0

21-year-old righty Didier Fuentes shut the Yanks out in the 7th — again McMahon getting a hit for NY, his 2nd of the night — with a 2-out single.

And so it was to the top of the 8th with Fernando Cruz in — when Austin Riley worked a 7-pitch at bat and hit a 3-2 splitter HIGH and deep to left for a HR and 1-0 Atlanta lead.

Cruz got an out and was relieved by Brent Headrick, who allowed consecutive 2-out singles, but got a strikeout to end the inning with runners on 1st and 3rd — keeping the score 1-0 Atlanta — which ended up being huge.

4. Olsen HR Off Hill in 9th Puts Atlanta Up 2-0

Tim Hill came in for the top of the 9th — and leadoff batter Matt Olsen got ahold of an 87-MPH sinker for a 2-0 lead.

5. Lombard, Wells, Rosario & Rice Tie It with 2 Outs in 9th

And so the Yanks were at the darkest depths of their Mordor — the Red Sox already having won — and the Rays winning — so NY was looking at slipping into 3rd place, 5.5 back of Tampa and .5 behind Boston.

Atlanta brought in their ace reliever Raisel Iglesias, and the 36-year-old 6’2 righty struck out Spencer Jones to start the inning.

But George Lombard Jr. hit a little dribbler down 3rd and beat it out — 3rd baseman Austin Riley’s throw got past 1st and Lombard raced to 3rd.

Austin Wells then doubled in Lombard and it was a 2-1 game with the tying run on 2nd. Hope.

But Iglesias struck out Ryan McMahon so NY was down to its final out.

Amed Rosaio then worked an 8-pitch walk, fouling off consecutive 3-2 pitches, to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs.

And Ben Rice came through — just missing a game-winning HR with a line drive that ripped off the right-centerfield wall for an RBI single.

Iglesias hit Heliot Ramos with a pitch to load the bases — forcing Atlanta to relieve Iglesias with lefty Dylan Dodd, who got Luis Garcia Jr. to groundout to send the game to the 10th.

6. Lombard, Bednar & Ortiz Heroic in Top of 10th

David Bednar came out to pitch the 10th with the inherited runner on 2nd — and George Lombard Jr. made a tremendous play and throw for the 1st out — holding the runner on 2nd.

Bednar then got a groundout to 1st, moving the inherited runner — Austin Riley — to 3rd.

And with 2 outs, Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a pop up into no-man’s land in right — and Luis Garcia Jr. made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch to end the inning!

7. Lombard & McMahon Win it in 10th

Atlanta brought in 35-year-old, 6’4 righty Tyler Kinley to pitch the bottom of the 10th. He threw 3 straight 88-MPH sliders to Jose Caballero, who — attempted to bunt the first one but swung and missed, took a full hack at the 2nd and missed, then bunted foul for a strikeout.

With 1 out, Atlanta intentionally walked lefty Spencer Jones to pitch to the rookie George Lombard Jr. And Lombard worked a 6-pitch walk to load the bases.

That brought up Ryan McMahon with bases loaded and 1 out. Kinley got 2 quick strikes on McMahon — but McMahon worked it — taking 3 straight balls and fouling off a pitch — before hitting a high fly deep to right for a sac fly and the old ballgame!

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401816426

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*