Batting average doesn’t carry the same weight it once did, but the Yankees have to be happy that two of their own lead the majors in that category.
That would be Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt, who continued to rack up hits in the Bombers’ 5-1, series-salvaging win over the Guardians on Wednesday. Judge went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple in the matinée at Progressive Field, raising his average to .415 and his OPS to 1.247.
Meanwhile, Goldschmidt continued his best Luis Arraez impression, going 3-for-5 with two RBI while boosting his average to .383.
Judge just missed a home run on the sixth three-bagger of his career, which came off Cleveland starter Luis L. Ortiz in the first inning. Goldschmidt also came feet away from a dinger a few batters later, instead settling for an RBI double off the right-center field wall.
Goldschmidt added an RBI single in the second inning shortly after Ben Rice picked up one of his own. Goldschmidt nearly had another ribbie on a sixth-inning double, but Cody Bellinger was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first.
The Yankees received an additional run from an Austin Wells double in the seventh.
While the Yankees put five runs on the board, they could have easily done more damage in Wednesday’s series finale. They went 5-for-18 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base.
Meanwhile, Anthony Volpe picked up a golden sombrero, striking out four times in the game. The third-year shortstop has struggled tremendously since his season-opening power surge; he entered Wednesday’s game with a 43 wRC+ since April 7 and is now hitting .198.
While Volpe had a day to forget at the plate, Carlos Rodón enjoyed his second straight strong start on the mound.
The lefty, who held the Rays scoreless for six innings his last time out, logged his longest outing of the year, holding the Guardians to zero earned runs over seven innings.
Cleveland’s Gabriel Arias did score off Rodón in the first inning, but only after Bellinger added an error to a José Ramírez single to center.
Rodón also limited himself to two walks — free passes have been a huge problem for him — while striking out eight batters. He permitted four hits over 90 pitches.
Bellinger, meanwhile, made up for his error with a stellar over-the-shoulder catch to end the game. The ball was one of three warning track shots the Guardians took against Luke Weaver in the ninth, but they didn’t score any runs despite lots of hard contact.
With the Yankees back in the win column, they have the day off on Thursday. Then they’ll host the Blue Jays for a three-game weekend series in the Bronx.
Carlos Carrasco, Max Fried and Clarke Schmidt are lined up to start those games for the Yankees. José Berríos, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt are Toronto’s probable pitchers.
