Juan Soto blasted his third home run of the season in support of Cody Poteet as the Yankees completed the doubleheader sweep with an 8-2 win over the Guardians in Game 2 on Saturday night.
Here are the takeaways…
-The Yankees lineup made it very difficult for young righty Triston McKenzie. They pushed across two runs in the first inning and forced McKenzie to throw 30 pitches. Unfortunately for the Yankees, they had bases loaded with no one out and could not score more.
It looked like the Yankees would squander another opportunity in the fourth inning with men on first and third with one out. Austin Wells popped out to third base when Anthony Volpe singled home Gleyber Torres to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Soto then came up and blasted a 408-foot homer to center field when he turned on a 3-0 fastball over the plate.
-It turned out the two first-inning runs would be enough for Poteet. The 29-year-old righty was on the mound for his first MLB appearance since 2022. Poteet pitched six innings (77 pitches, 50 strikes) giving up one run on six hits while striking out four batters.
His one mistake was a hanging breaking ball to former Yankee Estevan Florial that the outfielder dumped over the right-field wall.
–Giancarlo Stanton was back in the lineup after missing Game 1 so Aaron Judge could DH. The slugger finished 0-for-4 but did walk and picked up an RBI.
Speaking of Judge, after the former MVP went 2-for-5 in the first game, he went 1-for-4 with a walk. After the doubleheader, he’s now hitting over .200 for the first time since the start of the season.
-Volpe continues to lead off for the Yankees and it continues to work. The second-year shortstop finished 2-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and two runs after going hitless with a walk in Game 1. In three games since being moved to the leadoff spot, Volpe is 3-for-11 with four walks.
Torres has benefited a bit from moving off the leadoff spot too. He finished 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs in Game 2 on Saturday. In three games since the move, Torres is 2-for-10 but has walked three times.
–Anthony Rizzo seems to have found his swing in Cleveland. The first baseman went 2-for-3 with a walk in the first game and continued that trend in Game 2 with two more hits and an RBI. He entered the weekend series hitting .245 and after two games has raised his average to .281.
-Prior to the Cleveland series, Oswaldo Cabrera was out of the lineup for five straight games as manager Aaron Boone elected to use Jon Berti. Between games on Saturday, the Yankees placed Berti on the IL so Cabrera will see the bulk of the starts moving forward. He had the go-ahead home run in Game 1 and went 1-for-5 with an RBI double in Game 2.
Game MVP: Cody Poteet
When you saw Clarke Schmidt and Cody Poteet pitching the doubleheader on Saturday, you figured the bullpen would be taxed. While Schmidt got through five innings, Poteet helped the bullpen a lot by going six strong.
Honorable mention to Dennis Santana who pitched two scoreless innings to give the bullpen more of a reprieve.
Highlights
What’s Next…
The Yankees look for the three-game sweep against the Guardians on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:40 p.m.
Nestor Cortes (1-1, 3.50 ERA) will take the mound against Logan Taylor Allen (2-0, 4.60 ERA).
Source Agencies
