Yanks 9th-Inning Comeback Falls Short by “This Much”. A’s 6 NY 4

May 31, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Jazz Chisholm Jr. steals 2nd and goes to 3rd when ball glances off 2nd baseman's glove, scoring Cody Bellinger from 3rd -- to pull NY within 2-1 in the 4th.

The Yanks were down 6-1 to the A’s with 1 out and nobody on in the 9th inning when they launched an improbable comeback, culminating with consecutive bases-loaded, 2-out walks to Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger to make the score 6-4 and put the tying run at 2nd.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. then RIPPED a line drive down the 1st base line — but right at 1st baseman Nick Kurtz who was playing the line — for a groundout as the Yankees lost to the A’s 6-4 on a Saturday night in Sacramento.

Ryan Weathers pitched great but got clipped by HR balls — a 2-run HR by Shea Langeliers in the 1st, a solo HR by Tyler Soderstrom in the 6th to make it 3-1, and a 2-run HR with 2-outs in the 7th by Nick Kurtz to turn it into a 5-1 game. Sans the HR balls, Weathers was dominant — striking out 10 with a blazing fastball and biting changeup.

Jake Bird allowed a run in the 8th to seemingly put the Yanks out of reach, which it did.

NY was rope-a-doped for 6 innings by the A’s good young righty J.T. Ginn, and rope-a-doped some more by the A’s pen. Aaron Judge ‘just missed’ a 2-run HR in the 5th, caught at the wall in right.

“I thought Weathers threw the ball great tonite,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards. “Really competed well — and a good player (Kurtz) got us there (in the 7th).”

About Ginn, Boone said “He was keeping us on the ground. I thought we had a few good at bats against him — Judgy hit that ball to a deep spot to that corner in right — I thought he might have gotten that. We had a couple of good at bats, but I thought he (Ginn) did a good job of keeping us on the ground tonite.”

NY falls to 35-23 but remain 1.5 behind the Rays, who also lost. The A’s improve to 28-30.

1. Ginn Rope-a-Dopes Yanks

J.T. Ginn is a 27-year-old, 6’2 righty who came in with a 2-3 3.19 record and left with a 3-3 2.87 record. He was originally drafted by the Mets and was the primary prospect traded to the A’s for Chris Bassitt.

Ginn is a ground-ball specialist with a 93-MPH power sinker, 94-MPH four-seam fastball, and a devastating mid-80s slider. He relies on heavy sink and excellent control to rack up strikeouts and induce weak contact.

In this game he allowed a baserunner in each inning he pitched, but kept inducing groundouts to get out of trouble:

  • Ben Rice singled with 1 out in the 1st, but Ginn got Aaron Judge to hit into a doubleplay off a slider.
  • Paul Goldschmidt singled with 2 outs in the 2nd, but Ginn struck out Ryan McMahon
  • Austin Wells led off the 3rd with a single, but Ginn got strikeout, fly out, and strikeout to end the inning.

The Yanks finally got a run off Ginn in the 4th when Cody Bellinger worked a 1-out walk, Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled — moving Bellinger to 3rd — and then stole 2nd, the ball going into centerfield allowing Bellinger to score from 3rd and Jazz to run to 3rd.

With Jazz on 3rd and 1 out, Ginn walked Paul Goldschmidt to put runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. But again Ginn worked out of trouble — striking out McMahon and getting Austin Wells to fly to center — keeping the score 2-1 A’s.

Judge “Just Misses” 2-Run HR

Ben Rice walked with 2 outs in the 5th, and Aaron Judge hit a BOMB to right — caught at the wall.

Ginn then pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 6th and left with a 3-1 lead.

2. Weathers Good Except for the HR Ball

Ryan Weathers pitched the opposite of Ginn — no rope-a-doping; he pitched great but got punched by 3 HR balls that did maximum impact.

Shea Langeliers hit a 426-ft HR to center with Nick Kurtz aboard (who had singled) with 1 out in the 1st to make it 2-0 A’s.

Weathers then pitched a shutout 2nd through 5th inning. He was completely dominant — striking out 10 in the game with a biting changeup. “He’s got great stuff, and he’s got different ways to beat you,” said Boone about Weathers. “Tonite I felt his changeup was really, really good. But was using his fastball really well and mixed in some good sliders. If you forget the runs on there — he’s been terrific everytime out.”

But Tyler Soderstrom clipped him for a solo HR to center with 1 out in the 6th to make it 3-1.

Lefty-on-Lefty HR by Kurtz the Turning Point

The Yanks had righty Camilo Doval warming in the pen for the 7th — but Weathers got the first 2 outs, then walked leadoff batter Cam Thomas, a right-handed batter.

Boone went to the mound to check on Weathers, and left the lefty in to face lefty Nick Kurtz.

But Kurtz clipped Weathers for a 2-run HR to make it 5-1.

“Kind of kicking myself after he got the 2nd out,” said Boone afterwards. “I wanted to keep the lefties on the bench there. Definitely a case to go after the the leadoff hitter — he ends up walking him. I don’t question leaving him in there for Kurtz; I’m going to take with my left-on-left shot there with 2 outs. But after he got those first 2, and throwing quite a few pitches to that point — that’s the one where maybe I go to Doval there.”

3. A’s Pen Rope-a-Dopes Yanks Some More

Lefty Hogan Harris rope-a-doped the Yanks some more in the 8th — allowing a leadoff single to Ryan McMahon and a 2-out walk to Trent Grisham — putting runners on 1st and 2nd in the 3-1 game.

But Harris struck out Ben Rice on a 3-2 curveball.

Righty Justin Sterner came in for the 8th in a 5-1 game, and got Aaron Judge to flyout to center, Cody Bellinger to fly out in an 8-pitch at bat, and Chisholm to ground out in a 7-pitch at bat.

4. Bird Allows Run in 8th

Jake Bird came in for the bottom of the 8th in the 5-1 game and hit a batter to start the inning, then allowed a double to Soderstrom to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. He struck out centerfielder Henry Bolte but allowed an RBI single to 3rd baseman Zack Gelof to make it 6-1 before getting shortstop Darrell Hernaiz to ground into a double play to end the inning.

5. NY Rallies with 1 Out in 9th — Falls Short

And so it was to the top of the 9th — the A’s holding a 6-1 lead.

Righty Jack Perkins struck out Goldschmidt to start the inning, but Ryan McMahon singled to center and J.C. Escarra walked.

No biggie, it was 6-1 and Perkins struck out Anthony Volpe so the game was just about over.

But Perkins walked Trent Grisham to load the bases and the A’s yanked him — bringing in 6’3 righty Scott Barlow.

Barlow proceeded to walk Ben Rice to make it 6-2, walk Aaron Judge to make it 6-3, and walk Cody Bellinger to make it 6-4.

With the tying run at 2nd — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a SHOT down 1st — but right to the 1st baseman Kurtz for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401815563

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