The Yankees are rolling full steam ahead. The Bombers called upon their own friend in the long ball in their 6-2 win Friday night at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.
Aaron Judge drilled yet another home run (13), his seventh in his last 11 games, to get the Yankees on the board in the first inning, while Anthony Rizzo (10) yanked a two-run shot off the right-field foul pole in the sixth as that was all that would be necessary to secure the win.
Three runs would’ve been enough for Clarke Schmidt to get the job done as the right-hander put together a nice bounce-back performance after surrendering seven runs to the Rays in his last outing on May 14.
Schmidt tossed five innings, allowing two runs while striking out six. His two charged runs were surrendered by Jimmy Cordero as he replaced the 27-year-old when he gave up back-to-back hits to Jonathan India and Matt McLain. Jake Fraley doubled the two runners in cutting the deficit to 3-2.
It’s worth noting that the Reds had just two left-handed batters in their lineup on Friday which may indicate why Schmidt was effective in the midst of an underwhelming — 6.00 ERA in 10 starts — season.
Entering the night, lefties were slashing .369/.438/.667, whereas righties entered the night with a .726 OPS off of the former first-round pick in 2023.
Reds starter Ben Lively kept the Bombers at bay most of the night. Lively tossed 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out eight.
Cordero was replaced by Albert Abreu in the seventh as the flame-throwing righty tossed a scoreless frame before handing the ball off to Wandy Peralta in the eighth. Peralta put together a perfect setup inning before Kyle Higashioka added a two-out insurance two-run double and Harrison Bader singled him in the ninth.
Aaron Boone had a bit of breathing room as the skipper would turn to Nick Ramirez for the close. Ramirez worked a quick frame to secure the opener in Cincinnati.
It’s the Yanks’ ninth win in their past 12 games as they will look to clinch the series victory Saturday afternoon. They have yet to announce a starter for the 4:05 p.m. start.
