Spencer Jones Hits 1st HR; Jazz Blast Wins It. NY 3 Cleveland 2

June 10, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
Jazz Chisholm Jr. hits solo HR in 8th to put NY ahead 3-2.

Spencer Jones hit his first MLB homer to put the Yanks up 2-0 in the 2nd inning, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. broke a 2-2 tie with a solo HR in the top of the 8th to give NY a 3-2 win on a warm, HUMID evening in Cleveland.

Gerrit Cole started for the Yanks and started off well but ran out of gas in the high HUMID heat by the 4th inning — managing to get through a LONG 3rd inning when he allowed 2 runs after 2 were out.

The Yankee pen of Paul Blackburn, Tim Hill, Camilo Doval, Jake Bird, and Fernando Cruz won the day with 5 shutout innings — Cruz looking very sharp with a 5-out save, striking out 4.

Guardians starter Slade Cecconi pitched well in the HUMID heat, sans the 2-run HR to Spencer Jones, and the Cleveland pen held NY down sans the solo HR by Jazz off Tim Herrin.

The 6’7, elite-prospect Jones also got a single in the 4th off Cecconi, and just missed a 2nd HR in the 6th, hitting a high drive to the warning track 2 feet from the wall in center; he went 2-4 on the day.

“Super thrilled for him,” said Gerrit Cole on Spencer’s HR. “It’s always an exciting moment when a player gets their first hit, first win, first HR — always a joy celebrating firsts.”

On his outing and tough 3rd inning in the HUMID heat, Cole said “That was pretty tough. At a certain point I was just so gassed, it was just survival mode; just give it your best effort. Try to take off the throttle and lost the ball high; try to add throttle, stick with it, sometimes lost the ball high. So was just kind of fly by the seat of your pants.”

NY improves to 40-26, and remain in a virtual tie for 1st with Tampa, percentage pts behind (.609 to .606). Cleveland drops to 37-32, in 1st in the AL Central by .5 over the ChiSox.

1. Spencer Blasts 1st MLB HR — Puts NY Up 2-0 in 2nd

With Aaron Jones out 4-6 weeks with a broken rib, the Yanks’ 6’7 elite prospect Spencer Jones is getting a chance to play every day in right field and is looking good so far.

The lefty-hitting Jones ripped up AA and AAA last year, and ripped up Spring training this year, but didn’t make the deep Yankee opening day roster. He did so-so in a callup in May, but in this his 2nd callup looks much better — getting 3 hits on Friday.

Jones came up in the 2nd and ripped a high drive 443 feet to center for his 1st MLB HR, driving in Jazz Chisholm Jr. who had walked before him for a 2-0 Yankee lead.

2. Cole Grinds thru 4 Innings in HUMID Heat

Gerrit Cole started for the Yanks and looked good — hitting 100-MPH on the radar gun with his easy-motion delivery in the 2nd. It was the first time he’s hit 100 since returning a month ago from being out 1.5 years after Tommy John surgery.

Cole pitched a 1-2-3 shutout 1st, and worked around a 1-out single and 2-out catcher’s interference call for a shutout 2nd.

He got the first 2 outs of the 3rd when the Guardians peppered him with some small ball — an Angel Martinez single, stolen base, and RBI single by rightfielder Chase DeLauter that ate up Anthony Volpe at shortstop — going under his glove into center — for a 2-1 game.

Cole then began to wilt in the Humid heat — walking Kyle Monzardo, hitting DH Rhys Hoskins with a pitch, and allowing an RBI single to 1st by Angel Martinez that Paul Goldschmidt made a great play on but Cole was a step late covering 1st for a 2-2 game.

Cole finally got Steven Kwan on a comebacker to end the inning with the bases loaded. He threw 29 pitches in the inning.

Catcher Austin Hedges ‘just missed’ a solo HR to lead off the 4th — ripping a line drive that hit near the top of Cleveland’s high wall in left with Hedges having to settle for a single. Cole worked around that, plus a 2-out walk, getting the final out to end the inning and was done for the night at 83 pitches.

3. Cecconi Good — Rope-a-Dopes Yankees in the Humid Heat

Slade Cecconi is a 27-year-old, 6’4 righthander who pitched well against the Yankees last week, in a 2-1 NY win. Cecconi came up through the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, acquired by Cleveland in December, 2024 for Josh Naylor.

Cecconi looked pretty good again, using a 95-MPH four-seam fastball, 95-MPH sinker, 88-MPH cutter, 76-MPH curveball, and lots of 82-MPH sliders to rope-a-dope the Yankees for 5 innings of 6-hit, 2-run ball.

The Yanks had at least one baserunner in every inning against Cecconi in the HUMID heat, but besides the Spencer Jones HR, he worked out of trouble. Cecconi:

  • Worked around a 2-out single by Paul Goldschmidt in the 1st,
  • Allowed the 2-run HR to Jones in the 2nd,
  • Worked around a leadoff single by Trent Grisham and 1-out single by Paul Goldschmidt in the 3rd — getting help from his defense when Cody Bellinger grounded to 1st and Grisham was thrown out at home.

  • Worked around a leadoff single by Spencer Jones and a 1-out single by Ryan McMahon in the 4th, striking out J.C. Escarra and getting a ground out to end the inning, and
  • Worked around a 2-out walk in the 5th, striking out Chisholm to end his evening in the HUMID heat.

4. Yank Pen Hold’s ‘Em

Paul Blackburn relieved Cole for the 5th, and allowed a leadoff single to 1st baseman Kyle Monzardo and 1-out single to leftfielder Angel Martinez putting runners on 1st and 3rd — but helped himself by pouncing on a suicide squeeze by centerfielder Steven Kwan and throwing Monzardo out at home.

Blackburn got the final out of the 5th and the first 2 outs of the 6th, before yielding to Tim Hill for the final out.

Camilo Doval pitched a shutout 7th, allowing a leadoff single but getting a doubleplay.

5. Cleveland Pen Holds ‘Em

Colin Holderman — a big 6’6 righty — relieved Cecconi for the 6th and held the Yanks down with a shutout inning, allowing just a 2-out walk to Ryan McMahon.

And Tim Herrin — a big 6’6 lefty — pitched a shutout 7th, allowing just a 2-out walk to Paul Goldschmidt.

6. Jazz Solo HR in 8th Puts NY Ahead 3-2

So it was a 2-2 tie in the top of the 8th, when lefty Jazz Chisholm Jr. worked a 7-pitch at bat against the lefty Herrin — and on the 7th pitch — an 86-MPH slider — ripped a HIGH drive to right into the seats 360 feet away for a 3-2 Yankee lead.

7. Cruz Sensational Save

The Yanks brought in Jake Bird for the 8th — something that gives some Yankee fans jitters — and he got the first out before getting into trouble, allowing a single to pinch hitter Daniel Schneeman and walking shortstop Brayan Rocchio.

In came Fernando Cruz — the Yankee pen’s only big strikeout guy, said Suzyn Waldman on the radio — to face the top of the Guardian lineup with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out in the 3-2 game.

And Cruz struck out 2nd baseman and leadoff batter Travis Bazzana and got 3rd baseman Jose Ramirez to line out to Spencer Jones in right.

Cruz walked Chase DeLauter to lead off the 9th, but then struck out Monzardo, Rhys Hoskins, and Angel Martinez — all swinging — with his Nasty 80-MPH splitter for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401815685

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*