Yankees walk it off in 10th on J.C. Escarra's sacrifice fly, take series from Padres
J.C. Escarra of the New York Yankees celebrates his tenth inning pinch hit winning sacrifice fly against the San Diego Padres with teammates Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The spectacular pitchers duel that went on for seven innings between the Yankees’ Max Fried and Padres’ Dylan Cease on Wednesday night was long over. The Yankees had fallen into a hole twice and pulled out of it to get even both times. And now it was extra innings and there was Devin Williams on the mound.
Williams, who was supposed to be the closer this year, struggled mightily for a month and lost the job. He hadn’t seen high leverage situations like this in quite a bit. It wasn’t pretty but he came through.
Williams walked two in the 10th inning, but he struck out Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and finally Xander Bogaerts with the bases loaded to give the Yankees the opportunity they needed. He came off the mound pumping his fists.
Minutes later, pinch hitter J.C. Escarra lofted a game-winning sacrifice fly to left that followed a sacrifice bunt by Oswaldo Cabrera and scored Jasson Dominguez for a 4-3 victory in 10 innings before 42,302 at the Stadium.
Williams earned his first win with the Yankees, who took two of three from the Padres.
“That’s as tough as spot as you’re going to be in, right?” Aaron Boone said, referring to Williams’ task. “[It’s a] strong top of the order. You know what’s going on here in the first month-plus. That takes a lot of guts to stand out there and just make pitch after pitch and continue to execute. That’s what he is and what he’s capable of.”
For Escarra, who is 30 and at one point was driving for Uber, the ending was an unforgettable moment. “A lot was going through my mind — my heart was pounding through my chest standing there,” he said. “But you know my story . . . What happened today? It makes it all worth it. I just have to thank and my teammates for trusting me with that.”
“J.C. can really hit,” Boone said. “We haven’t seen it yet at this level just because he hasn’t gotten that many reps yet, but he’s a really good hitter and just a really good job there with two strikes . . . a real quality pro at-bat right there.”
Starter Max Fried continued to be everything the Yankees could have asked for and more when they signed him to an eight-year, $218 million deal in the offseason. He threw seven innings of five-hit ball and allowed only a Jackson Merrill solo home run. In the 100-pitch effort, he didn’t issue a walk and logged eight strikeouts.
But it was all he could do to keep up with Cease, who took a no-hit bid and a 1-0 lead into the seventh. Cody Bellinger broke it up and tied the game when he drilled an 0-and-2 fastball 373 feet over the rightfield wall.
It went to the bullpens, and neither fared great. Ian Hamilton and closer Luke Weaver gave up a pair of runs in the top of the eighth.
Then Trent Grisham came off the bench and delivered a two-run homer to rightfield — his 10th of the season — to tie it 3-3.
Williams (1-2, 9.24) had mostly been used in low-leverage situations since losing the closer spot with decent but mixed results. “We needed him — period,” Boone said. “This guy’s been one of the great, great relievers now for a while, and you get a peek at it right there. You know, punching out three really good hitters with everything on the line there.”
Notes & quotes: The Yankees’ bullpen has something promising on the horizon as Jonathan Loaisiga’s minor- league rehab assignment has been upgraded from Single-A Tampa to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he’s penciled in for six appearances. The righthander’s 2024 season ended after four innings because of a UCL injury that required season-ending surgery.
Boone was asked about the reports on him and potential impact of his return for the bullpen. “Really good — he looks great,” Boone said. “I’m really excited about where ‘Lo’ is . . . A healthy, locked-in is an impactful guy back there.” . . . Giancarlo Stanton continues to make progress as he recovers from tendinitis in both elbows. He faced live pitching for the first time Tuesday — from rehabbing reliever Jake Cousins. “For the first live [one], it felt good,” Stanton said Wednesday. “There’s always going to be a little something in there, but it felt good.”
Stanton believes he will need to go on some kind of minor- league rehab assignment before he returns but didn’t give a target date. When asked about whether there is a level of pain where it becomes manageable, Stanton replied: “If I’m out there, I am good enough to play and there’s no levels of anything else.” . . . Jockey Junior Alvarado, who rode Sovereignty to victory in the Kentucky Derby last weekend, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
