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The Yankees took down the Orioles 3-1 to open up a three-game series in Baltimore. Carlos Rodon made his first start since June 28 for the Yankees and faced off against Shane Baz.

“I mean, it's good to be back just to be able to contribute and compete with the guys,” Rodon said. “It was fun, man. It was a good win today.”

In the top half of the first inning, Heliot Ramos worked a two-out walk and also wasted one of the Yankees' ABS challenges. But Luis Garcia Jr. struck out to end the inning. 

Rodon navigated around a two-out free pass in the bottom half of the first inning, working a scoreless frame in his return from the IL. 

In the bottom of the second inning, it looked like Rodon induced an inning-ending double play, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. botched a ground ball to load the bases with one out. It looked like the second base umpire got in Jazz’s way on the ground ball, and he was visibly upset. But no harm, no foul, as Rodon recorded a pair of strikeouts to pick up Jazz and strand the bases loaded. 

With two outs in the top of the third inning, Trent Grisham demolished a no-doubt solo shot to give the Yankees a 1-0 advantage. 

Spencer Jones struck out looking to end the top of the fourth inning and wasted the Yankees' final ABS challenge in the process. 

Rodon worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 bottom half of the first inning thanks to a beautiful play from George Lombard Jr. to end a successful return from the IL for Rodon. 

Yerry De los Santos replaced Rodon on the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning and worked a scoreless frame. De los Santos came back out for the bottom of the sixth inning and forced the Orioles to go three up, three down. 

Final line for Rodon: Four innings pitched, two hits allowed, one earned run, walked two, and struck out four on 66 pitches. He threw his fastball 42% of the time, the slider 36%, the sinker 11%, the changeup 8%, and the curveball 3%. Rodon topped out at 96 mph, sitting around 94.6, and had nine whiffs. 

“It was good. Obviously, I'd like to fill up the zone a little more, get ahead sooner,” Rodon said. “And just first-pitch strikes a little better. But I was able to compete with a limited pitch count.” 

In the top of the seventh inning, Jones and Lombard each singled to put runners at first and second with one out and ended Baz’s night. Paul Goldschmidt pinch-hit for Ryan McMahon and was able to draw a walk to load the bases. With the Yankees on the cusp of stranding the bases loaded, Grisham stayed red hot and lined a two-run single into center field to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. 

“Just stay within myself, go through my at-bat, get into my process. That's really about it,” Grisham said. 

Brent Headrick took over for De los Santos in the bottom of the seventh and allowed a single as well as walked a batter to put the tying run on first with nobody out. Headrick picked up the next two outs, then Fernando Cruz came in and got Pete Alonso to line out to keep the Yankees' lead intact. 

Paul Blackburn got the call for the bottom of the eighth and worked around a walk to put together a scoreless inning. 

The Yankees called upon their closer, David Bednar, for the bottom of the ninth and retired the Orioles in order with a couple of strikeouts to pick up the save. 

The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Will Warren on the mound facing off against Chris Bassitt. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET on Prime Video. 

My thoughts on the game: First off, we got some great news on Max Fried today, as he is continuing to throw on the IL and could be activated after just the minimum 15 days. Great start from Rodon tonight; he was on a pitch limit, so he could only throw four innings. But De los Santos made up for that and tossed two shutout innings to bridge the gap to the high-leverage guys. Headrick allowed the No. 7 and No. 8 hitters to reach, but settled down and picked up two big outs; then Cruz picked up the final out in the seventh. Blackburn looked nasty tonight, as he has for most of this season. Blackburn's ERA is now down to 1.83; it is so cool to see how much he's developed this year and how many fans he's proved wrong who didn't want him brought back, myself included. Bednar looked unhittable; he is quickly becoming one of the best closers in baseball. The Yankees have to re-sign him in the offseason. Grisham continued his red-hot stretch at the plate, accounting for all three of the Yankees' runs. Lombard also had a couple of hits and, as usual, looked elite defensively; he now has a +8 DRS, the fourth-best among shortstops in just 12 games played in the MLB. The Yankees still have to do more offensively and can't waste their ABS challenges in four innings, but thankfully they found a way to get the job done. The Rays also lost tonight, so the Yankees are creeping a little closer to catching them, now 5.0 games back. On to tomorrow asd the Yankees look to win the series and could really use a good start from Warren. 

The Yankees took down the Blue Jays 4-3 in an extra-inning nail-biter to salvage the final game of the series. Ryan Weather took the mound for the Yankees and faced off against AL Cy Young contender Dylan Cease. 

“This season's tested our character and our resilience,” Aaron Boone said. “And I think we have a lot of that in that room, and it's games like this that we continue to find ourselves in. And we just gotta keep fighting and know that we're an incomplete team, but we have a chance to be who we wanna be. So, love the fight and a good way into the off day.”

With two outs in the top of the first inning, Heliot Ramos laced a double at 108.9 mph down the third-base line to break out of a 0-for-24 skid. However, Trent Grisham went down on strikes to strand Ramos. 

Weathers worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 bottom half of the first inning on just nine pitches. 

George Lombard Jr. worked a one-out walk in the top of the second inning, then swiped second base for his first career stolen base. But Ryan McMahon and Austin Wells both struck out to strand Lombard. 

José Caballero worked a leadoff walk in the top of the third inning thanks to a couple of successful ABS challenges. Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt, who some of you may remember from last year's series in Houston, still doesn't know the difference between a ball and a strike. Ben Rice grounded out to move Caballero up to second, then Caballero stole third, his 30th stolen base of the year. Luis Garcia Jr. drove in Caballero with a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. 

The Blue Jays went three up, three down in the bottom of the third as Weathers put together a shutdown inning. 

Weathers allowed a pair of one-out singles in the bottom of the fourth. But he induced a tailor-made 6-4-3 inning-ending double play to work into and out of trouble. 

Weathers allowed a one-out double in the bottom of the fifth inning. Daz Cameron followed with an RBI double to tie the game up at 1-1. 

The Blue Jays were threatening to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning with runners at the corners and one out, but Weathers induced another double play to end the inning. 

With one out in the top of the seventh, Lombard just missed a go-ahead home run, but trotted into second base with a double, ending Cease’s day on the mound. Paul Goldschmidt pinch-hit for McMahon and was intentionally walked. With two outs, Caballero came through with an RBI single to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead, but was thrown out going for second to end the inning. It looked like Caballero stayed in a rundown for long enough to allow a second run to score, but after review, he was just barely tagged out. 

“So in my head I was like, let me just stay in the rundown,” Caballero said. “Maybe I can get an extra run out of it. That was the plan after I got caught in between. I tried my best and it almost worked out, but it didn't.”

Weathers retired the Blue Jays in order in the bottom of the seventh to put together a shutdown inning and notched his fourth strikeout of the game. 

Weathers came back out for the bottom of the eighth and picked up the first out, then surrendered a single to end his day. The Yankees called upon their closer, David Bednar and he recorded the final two outs of the inning to keep the Yankees' lead intact. 

Final line for Weathers: 7.1 innings pitched, six hits allowed, one earned run, walked one, and struck out four on 95 pitches. He threw his sinker 40% of the time, the changeup 36%, the sweeper 15%, the 4-seam fastball 6%, and the slider 3%. Weathers topped out at 95.2 mph, sitting at 94 mph on his heater, and had seven swings and misses. 

“Just kind of been staying with the pitch mix we've been doing, especially against the Blue Jays,” Weathers said. “They're a team that really makes a lot of contact. So it's about just getting to good spots in the zone.”

In the bottom of the ninth, it looked like Bednar picked up the first out of the inning, but a routine ground ball went right under Rice’s glove. Bednar walked the next batter to put the tying run on second and the winning run at first. A wild pitch with one out put the tying run 90 feet away and the winning run on second. That wild pitch and error would come back to cost Bednar and the Yankees as Ernie Clement tied the game with a sacrifice fly. Bednar would pick up the third out to send this game to extra innings, where the Yankees are 2-9 in extra-inning games this year. 

Rice redeemed himself in the top of the 10th as he crushed a no-doubt bomb to right field, his 33rd home run of the year to give the Yankees a 4-2 lead. 

“No adjustment, really. I mean, just going up there with a plan and sticking to it, and I was able to execute,” Rice said. 

Tim Hill came in relief for Bednar in the bottom of the 10th and allowed an RBI single to Andrés Giménez to make it a one-run game. Hill would end up locking in and picking up the final couple of outs to record the save and give the Yankees the win. 

The Yankees will have an off day tomorrow, then head to Baltimore for a three-game series against the Orioles. Will Warren will get the start for the Yankees; the Orioles starter is still TBD. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: First off, before anything, RIP to former Yankee Tommy John, who passed away at 83 years old this morning and should be in the Hall of Fame. Wow, that game just took years off of my life; thankfully, the Yankees found a way to win it. Unbelievable start from Weathers; he has been lights out over his last five starts since he started throwing that 4-seam fastball less. Bednar ended his consecutive save streak at 17 mainly due to the Rice error. I'm not sure why Boone used Hill in the 10th with Brent Headrick and Fernando Cruz both available, but it worked out, so I’m not going to complain. Caballero, who hasn't played much since the trade deadline, got the start at second base today over the struggling Jazz Chisholm Jr. and rewarded Boone by manufacturing the Yankees' first run with his speed and had an RBI single late in the game. Rice went from zero to hero in a matter of minutes, crushing a go-ahead bomb that ended up being the difference and made up for his error. The Orioles did the Yankees a solid this weekend by sweeping the Rays, so despite a tough weekend for the Yankees, they moved a game closer to the Rays for first place in the AL East, now 5.5 games back. The Red Sox are also losing, so they could move up to 3.0 games ahead of them. Huge win for the Yankees today. I honestly didn't have much faith after they blew the lead in the ninth, but I am happy I was wrong. On to tomorrow, as the Yankees will look to end the Orioles' three-game winning streak. Also, I dont think I have mentioned this yet, but I recently started an Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for this Yankees blog where I am posting highlights, news, recaps, reactions, and everything Yankees-related. I would really appreciate it if you guys could give me a follow (the_yanks_short_porch_report on Instagram, The Yanks Short Porch Report on Facebook, and The_Yanks_SPR on Twitter).