Bronx, NY — It took them until the seventh inning to record a hit, but the New York Yankees found a way to pull off a gritty extra-inning win over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night, walking it off 4-3 in the 10th at Yankee Stadium.
Pinch-hitter J.C. Escarra delivered the decisive blow, lifting a sacrifice fly to deep left that brought home Jasson Domínguez and gave New York its first walk-off win of the season. Escarra, a backup catcher and former Uber driver, came through after Oswaldo Cabrera advanced the automatic runner with a well-placed sacrifice bunt.
New York had trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the eighth, after the Padres broke open a pitchers’ duel between Max Fried and Dylan Cease. Cease had been dominant, holding the Yankees hitless through 6 1/3 innings before Cody Bellinger launched a solo homer to finally put New York on the board.
Cease exited shortly after with a forearm cramp. The Padres took advantage in the eighth, scoring twice behind a Jackson Merrill RBI single and a Xander Bogaerts sac fly.
But the Yankees answered immediately. Cabrera opened the bottom of the inning with a walk, setting the stage for Trent Grisham, who tied the game with a pinch-hit, two-run homer — his 10th of the season, surpassing last year’s total.
In a tense 10th inning, the Yankees loaded the bases, and reliever Devin Williams escaped trouble by striking out Bogaerts on a full-count changeup to keep the game tied. Williams erupted in celebration after the strikeout and was rewarded with his first win in pinstripes. New York took two out of three in the series.
Meanwhile, the 42,000+ fans at Yankee Stadium were also cheering for another reason — news of the Knicks’ 91-90 comeback win over the Celtics in Boston spread through the crowd during the late innings.
Notable Performances:
Max Fried continued his dominant stretch, tossing seven scoreless innings. The former Padres draft pick is now 6-0 with a 1.05 ERA in eight starts since signing a $218 million deal with the Yankees in December.
Jackson Merrill homered in the fourth and drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth for San Diego.
What’s Next:
Padres: After a travel day, Randy Vásquez (1-3, 3.90 ERA) gets the ball Friday night at Coors Field against the Rockies.
Yankees: Rookie Will Warren (1-2, 5.65 ERA) will start Friday in Oakland against the Athletics.
