As they try to tread water without Aaron Judge, the Yankees showed one way they can win without him.
While they have been more of a factor on the basepaths all season, that was especially the case Thursday, when both of Yankees’ runs in a 2-1 win over the Guardians were directly set up by steals.
Though they are not just going to turn into a small-ball team for however long Judge is out — which could be at least two months after he was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his first right rib late Thursday night — the Yankees have the ability to make things happen on the bases more than they have in other years when Judge missed time.
“The running game was ultimately what allowed us to win this game,” manager Aaron Boone said. “That’s been a part of our game anyway. Today it was a big part because they were in critical spots in a low-scoring game. It has somebody else in the lineup in lieu of Aaron that maybe there’s a different skill set that we have to take advantage of. But I don’t think it necessarily changes how we play. It ultimately comes down to pitching and catching it and scoring runs. You can do that a lot of different ways.
“We got to figure it out with the personnel we have each and every night. That’s the game and that’s the challenge.”
With three steals Thursday, the Yankees have swiped 10 bags over their last four games (three of which Judge has missed).
Their 61 steals are their most through their first 62 games of a season in the last 25 years (since they had 68 steals through 62 games in 2001).
Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger pulled off a double steal with no outs in the fourth inning, allowing Goldschmidt to score from third on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s sacrifice fly.
In the seventh, Chisholm swiped second and took third on a wild pitch, putting him in position to score the winning run on Ryan McMahon’s single.
“I feel like it meant a lot,” Chisholm, who is tied with José Caballero for the team lead with 15 steals, said of the running game. “We have all-around players that can run, even all the way up to Cap [Judge]. Feel like we’ve been doing a good job in that part of our game. … We’ve worked really hard over spring training on the baserunning, so I feel like it’s coming into play.”
Jasson Domínguez (AC joint sprain) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Friday.
The plan is for him to play again Sunday and then likely a few more games next week before he could possibly be ready to return.
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Giancarlo Stanton, meanwhile, is not expected to join the Yankees during their upcoming road trip (that begins Monday in Cleveland and ends Sunday in Toronto) as he continues to ramp up his running from a right calf strain.
“I talked to G a lot about it [Wednesday], he seems pleased with it,” Boone said. “Seems like he’s bouncing back now after the first couple days being sore. I think we just want to stack some days of moving as much as he can.”
Trent Grisham, who had a pair of hits, has reached base multiple times in six of his last eight games and nine of his last 13, batting .362 with a .955 OPS over those 13 games.
