The Summer of George Lifts Yanks from 4-0 Deficit! NY 6 Tampa 4

September 25, 2026 paperbacklou 2026 0
George Lombard Jr. puts Yanks up 6-4 with 2-run BLAST into Upper Deck in left in bottom of 8th.

George Lombard Jr. hit a 2-run BLAST into the upper deck in left in the 8th inning to complete a Yankee comeback from a 4-0 deficit and turn it into a 6-4 win at Yankee Stadium on a beautiful, 65-degree Thursday night.

Lombard also doubled in a run in the 7th to make it a 4-2 game, and made a spectacular slide at home plate later in the inning after a wild pitch to make it a 4-3 game. Paul Goldschmidt tied the game a few batters later with a clutch, 2-out RBI single.

Austin Wells began the comeback with a solo HR in the 6th to make it 4-1 Tampa.

The comeback win erased what would have been a loss for Cam Schlittler — who pitched well but was lifted after 3 innings to keep him fresh for the playoffs. He allowed 2 runs but had thrown 70 pitches. Schlittler finishes the year 14-6 1.95, and is the leading candidate for AL Cy Young.

Bradley Hanner got the win in relief — his best appearance as a major leaguer with 2 shutout innings. He came in with an 11.81 ERA, and leaves with a 1-0 8.59 record.

“My first thought was the ricochet, oh no — and then just a really good athletic play by the old soccer player,” said ma Kind of turned into a fun ballgame. Lot of different contributors in there, so it was cool.”

“He’s got power — he’s a strong kid,” said Boone about Lombard’s HR. “Back-to-back 110’s off the bat — the ball he hits to leftfield the time before is absolutely scalded, and then the no doubter on the homerun. I thought he made a couple of really good defensive plays — obviously coming home and the almost doubleplay turned where he handled the ball in the dirt and still turned that over and we didn’t complete it. Really good job by him tonite.”

NY takes 3 of 4 in the series from Tampa, and improves to 92-67 — 4 games back of Tampa which falls to 96-63. There are 3 games left in the season.

1. Schlittler Relieved to Keep Fresh for Playoffs After 3 Innings

Cam Schlittler pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 1st,

Cam then got the first 2 outs of the 2nd before allowing a walk and single, but struck out Ryan Vilade to take a shutout into the 3rd.

But he walked Taylor Walls and allowed a single to Yandy Diaz to start the 3rd — Walls scoring on a throwing error by Heliot Ramos in right for a 1-0 Tampa lead.

Schlittler struck out Liam Hicks for the 1st out, but Junior Caminero singled to center for a 2-0 Tampa lead.

Cam got tough, striking out Victor Mesa Jr. and getting Chandler Simpson to ground out to end the inning. And that was his evening — as he was lifted at 70 pitches to keep him fresh for the playoffs.

2. Tampa Goes Up 4-0 on Fulmer & Gil

Michael Fulmer came in and pitched a shutout 4th, but a leadoff single by Yandy Diaz and 1-out RBI single by Junior Caminero made it 3-0 Tampa in the 5th.

Tim Hill relieved Fullmer and got the final 2 outs of the inning.

Luis Gil pitched the 6th — and walked 2 of the first 3 batters of the inning, putting runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Gil got a sharp grounder to Paul Goldschmidt at 1st — who threw to 2nd to try and start a doubleplay. George Lombard Jr. made a terrific play to catch a low throw and keep the doubleplay going — but his throw to 1st was low and couldn’t be handled by Gil — as Ryan Vilade scored from 3rd. Tampa 4 NY 0.

3. Seymour Tough

Meanwhile, Tampa starter Ian Seymour was tough, shutting the Yanks out on 1 hit through 5 innings.

The 27-year-old, 6’o lefty threw lots of 87-MPH sinkers and 92-MPH four-seam fastballs, intermixed with some 83-MPH changeups to get lots of groundouts, fly outs, and line outs.

Seymore is the #4 pitcher in the Tampa rotation. He came in with a 9-7 4.38 record and ended up not getting a decision, so completes his season 9-7 4.22.

4. Wells HR Makes It 4-1 in 6th

Tampa rested Seymour after 5 innings, and brought in 6’4 righty Jake Woodford — and Austin Wells pounced, with a 403-foot HR to center leading off the bottom of the 6th. Tampa 4 NY 1.

5. Lombard RBI Double & Great Slide Highlight 3-Run 7th

Ben Rice led off the 7th with a walk against Woodford, and after Amed Rosario grounded out sending Rice to 2nd — George Lombard Jr. ripped a double to left for a 4-2 game.

6’4 righty Brody Hopkins came in to pitch, and Anthony Volpe drew a 5-pitch walk, the last pitch getting away for a wild pitch — but it ricocheted right back to the catcher — and Lombard made a spectacular hesitation slide for a run!

Another look:

Wells and Volpe then executed a double steal of 3rd and 2nd, but Jose Caballero hit a grounder to shortstop and Taylor Walls threw Wells out at home.

With 2 outs, Paul Goldschmidt got a CLUTCH RBI single to center for a 4-4 tie!

6. Lombard 2-Run HR Puts NY Up 6-4 in 8th

Former Met Steven Matz got the last out of the 7th and came in to pitch the 8th. He got the first 2 outs of the inning, but Amed Rosario then singled to center, and George Lombard Jr. BLASTED one into the upper deck in left for a 6-4 Yankee lead.

7. Hanner for the Win

Bradley Hanner, the 27-year-old rookie righthander who has had a great year in AAA (6-3 2.35) but has had a tough time in the majors so far this year (11.81 ERA), pitched a 1-2-3 shutout 8th inning to keep the game 4-4 at the time, and then came back to pitch the 9th with NY up 6-4 — NY giving David Bednar the night off.

And Hanner did good — getting consecutive fly outs to start the inning, allowing a single to Jonny DeLuca to bring the tying run to the plate — but getting pinchhitter Ben Williamson to fly out to left for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401817064

 

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