By ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Trent Grisham hit a go-ahead, three-run homer, Aaron Judge and Oswaldo Cabrera also went deep and the New York Yankees rallied for a 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night, June 9, to prevent a three-game sweep in a series billed as a possible World Series preview.
Teoscar Hernández’s sixth-inning homer, his third of the series, gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead against Luis Gil, one inning after the rookie allowed Mookie Betts’ tying two-run double with two outs.
Starting because Juan Soto missed his third straight game due to forearm soreness, Grisham drove a fastball from Tyler Glasnow (6-5) about a dozen rows into the right-field seats for a 5-3 lead in the bottom half.
“It was huge,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Grish can get to a heater, and he didn’t miss it.”
Fans in the sellout crowd of 48,023 had chanted “We Want Soto!” when Grisham came to the plate after infield hits by Alex Verdugo and Judge that bounced off fielders’ gloves.
“I just got set quick and threw the heater and missed a little low,” Glasnow said.
Grisham followed his swing with a dramatic bat flip. He had heard the chants.
“I was just happy that I was able to stay present in the moment and worry about myself and putting a good swing on one,” Grisham said.
Judge was irked by the chants.
“I wasn’t too happy with it, but I think he made a good point, got his point across there with that homer,” he said.
Acquired by the Yankees in the December trade that brought Soto from San Diego, Grisham began the night hitting .083 with two home runs. Soto could return Monday night against Kansas City.
When Grisham returned to the plate in the eighth, fans chanted: “We Want Grisham!”
“I liked those, too,” Grisham said with a smile.
Judge hit his major league-leading 24th home run in the eighth against Yohan Ramírez — his eighth in 10 career games against the Dodgers.
Judge also had an RBI double on a three-hit night and raised his batting average to .305, his first time over .300 this season. Judge was hitting .197 through May 2 and is batting .419 in 34 games since with 18 homers and 41 RBIs.
Cabrera, like Grisham a backup on a star-laden roster, put the Yankees ahead with a home run off the right-field foul pole in a two-run third.
Los Angeles’ first two batters reached in the seventh against former Dodgers reliever Caleb Ferguson (1-3). Luke Weaver came on, and catcher Jose Trevino threw out Andy Pages at third on Kiké Hernández’s bunt. Betts then grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Shohei Ohtani doubled leading off the eighth and scored on Will Smith’s sacrifice fly.
Clay Holmes pitched the ninth for his 19th save in 22 chances, allowing a pair of two-out singles before striking out Betts on a slider.
Teoscar Hernández homered twice in Saturday’s 11-3 win, doubled in the second for the Dodgers’ first hit and drove a changeup to the back of the Los Angeles bullpen in left-center. He was 6 for 10 with nine RBIs in the series and has 47 RBIs in 79 games against the Yankees.
Glasnow allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings with 12 strikeouts, dropping to 0-4 in his last six starts.
Gil had won his previous seven starts to boost his record to 8-1. He gave up three runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings, his ERA rising from 1.82 to 2.04.
Cabrera led off the third with his fifth home run and first since May 1, giving the Yankees their first lead of the series. Cabrera made just his second start in June, inserted into the lineup as manager Aaron Boone gave slumping Anthony Rizzo a night off and moved DJ LeMahieu from third base to first.
Judge’s RBI double popped out of Pages’ glove as the rookie jumped just in front of the center-field wall.
