Jazz Chisholm Saved the Yankees Season

 

Baseball is the game where you cannot hide. The ball will find you no matter what and it found Jazz Chisholm last night in a big way. Following his controversial benching, Chisholm is the reason the New York Yankees season continues.

“He’s a gamer and he likes this stage” Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said postgame of his second baseman who is already confirmed to be in the lineup tonight for the Yankees do-or-die Game 3. “It’s win today…it’s a win or go home for us so it’s all about winning” Chisholm said postgame about his mindset going into Game 2. And he helped the Yankees win with the two biggest moments of the game. The first being in the top of the 7th with two runners already on, Jazz gloved a bullet off the bat of Masataka Yoshida bat, popped up off the infield dirt, and almost threw out Yoshida at first base, but more importantly kept the go-ahead run, Nate Eaton, at third base and gave Fernando Cruz a chance to get out of the jam. Which he did. Cruz said after the game “I think that was the play of the game right there. There’s some stuff that goes unnoticed a lot of times, but I want to make sure it’s mentioned, Jazz save[d] us the game completely.” It won’t go unnoticed and was just the start of Jazz’s night.

An inning and a half later, the Yankee second baseman drew a two-out walk and raced home on a single by Austin Wells to give the Yankees the lead for good. Whether the decision by Aaron Boone to sit Chisholm in Game 1 lit a fire in his belly, only Boone and Chisholm will know that, but it seems like it worked. Also, Austin Wells, let’s not diminish his impact on the game having a bounce back night after going 0-3 in Game 1, the Bomber backstop went 2-3 with a walk and two singles—including the aforementioned two-out go-ahead single down the right field line.

Another Yankee who made the most of his opportunity after sitting all of Game 1 was Ben Rice. Rice wasted no time announcing his presence in the postseason, clobbering the first pitch he saw into the right field seats for a two-run homer that got the Bronx jumping in the first inning. “I know my roll… the approach doesn’t change, I mean I’m just gonna be prepared for every at-bat I get” Rice said following the game. Rice finished 2-3 adding a single in the 6th and it could’ve been more as he smashed a 109.4 seed that held in the air for a lineout to right that could’ve given the Yankees the lead in the bottom of the third.

The image that will be remembered from Game 2 will not be Jazz Chisholm’s head first slide into home to give the Yankees the lead, or Austin Wells’ arms extended following coming through, or even the Yankee Captain Aaron Judge leaping over the dugout wall to celebrate the go-ahead run, it will be Fernando Cruz’s celebration after stranding the bases loaded in the top of the 7th. “This is something I’ve been dreaming, something I’ve been imaging since I was a little kid, the emotions are going to come out, I’m an emotional guy, I’m passionate about what I do and I love what I do. I love doing it for my guys and it’s time to make that noticeable” explained Cruz about his celebration following keeping the game tied. “There is a passion he does his job with, and it spilled over tonight” Aaron Boone said of Cruz.

Carlos Rodon had his best postseason outing of his short Yankee career going six plus innings, striking out six, and working around three walks, three hits, and three runs. Rodon talked his way back into the game in the bottom of the 6th with two on and no-one out and did run out of gas in the 7th but the Yankee lefty did his job by giving the Bombers much needed length. Much will be made of Rodon talking himself back into the game after Max Fried wasn’t able to do the same but credit to Aaron Boone for sticking with one of the guys who got the Yankees to this position.

Alex Cora managed this game like it was an elimination game for Boston as he used seven pitchers and asked his bullpen to cover six and two third innings. The decision to go out and get Bryan Bello in the third inning could be the reason the Red Sox do not move on in the postseason given that Game 3 starter, Connelly Early, will most likely be an opener, and Cora will have to go back to the well with his bullpen.  

However, Aaron Boone did learn his lessons from Game 1 last night. He will need to continue to push the right button with the team he calls the best one he’s had as Yankee manager to keep the pursuit for title number 28 alive.