About Last Night: NYY 14, PHI 4

By Ethan Semendinger

July 30th, 2024

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The Yankees scored 14 runs, had 14 hits, and hit 6 home runs last night. What a great way to start the 24 hours before the trade deadline!

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Quick Stats -

• Winning Pitcher: Luis Gil (11-5, 3.20 ERA)

• Losing Pitcher: Zack Wheeler (10-5, 2.94 ERA)

• Save: N/A

• Home Runs (New York): Aaron Judge (38, 39), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (14, 15), Ben Rice (7), Anthony Volpe (9)

• Home Runs (Philadelphia): Brandon Marsh (11)

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Big Story - With newcomer Jazz Chisholm joining the team this past weekend, the Yankees had to make a spot and they DFA'ed J.D. Davis. Yesterday, Giancarlo Stanton was reinstated from the 10-Day IL and the Yankees made another spot by DFA'ing Jahmai Jones.

These two moves- on paper- should go a long way in helping to fix the offensive woes that have been plaguing this team for the better part of the last month (this past weekend, notwithstanding). However, this should not be where the Yankees stop improving the team.

Today is the MLB 2024 Trade Deadline. I look forward to watching how (if) the Yankees make any additional moves today. The Yankees need to improve at many positions (especially in the bullpen) if they want to make a serious World Series push this year with a prime-Aaron Judge and Juan Soto.

I will be tracking all of the Yankees moves, Yankee and MLB rumors, completed deals around the MLB, and my thoughts on everything in two posts going up later this morning and afternoon. Be sure to check out my 2024 Trade Deadline Megathreads at 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM!

For now, here was the line-up for the first game of a three-game series against the Phillies :

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Player of the Game -

• Jazz Chisholm Jr.: 2-4, 2 Home Runs, 2 Runs, 3 RBI's, 1 BB, 1 K
  

Notable Performances -

• Luis Gil: 5.1 Innings, 5 Hits, 3 Runs (3 ER), 3 Walks, 8 Strikeouts

• Michael Tonkin: 1.2 Innings, 1 Hit, 1 Run (1 ER), 1 Walk, 0 Strikeouts

• Yoendrys Gomez: 2.0 Innings, 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 0 Walks, 1 Strikeout

• Aaron Judge: 2-5, 2 Home Runs, 2 R's, 2 RBI's, 3 K's

• Juan Soto: 3-5, 2 Doubles, 2 R's , 3 RBI's, 1 K

• Alex Verdugo: 1-3, 2 R's, 2 BB's

• Austin Wells: 1-4, Triple, 2 RBI's, 2 K's

• Ben Rice: 2-3, Home Run, 2 R's, 1 RBI, 1 K

• Anthony Volpe: 2-4, Home Run, 2 R's, 2 RBI's, 1 K

Better to Forget -

• Gleyber Torres: MLB-Leading 14th Error at 2B, Double-Clutch Ruined Double Play

• DJ LeMahieu: 0-2

• Giancarlo Stanton: 0-4, Run, 1 BB

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The Game - The Yankees got on the board early with one swing of the bat from the captain, Aaron Judge, who hit a solo home run for number 38 on the year and a quick 1-0 lead for the Yankees.

Then, in the top of the 2nd inning, Jazz Chisholm hit his first home run as a Yankee, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead. A lead that would be short-lived as Ben Rice hit a solo home run of his own before the inning was over. With a quick bottom of the inning, the Yankees were up 3-0 after two.

The next two innings would also feature scoring, though both were at the hands of the Phillies. (Though, luckily, not much damage was done in either inning.) In the bottom of the 3rd, the Phillies worked themselves into a great situation: 1 out and a bases-loaded. The Phillies would plate a run on a ground-out to third. However, the problem was not first-time third baseman Jazz Chisholm. He fielded the ball cleanly, but it was Gleyber Torres who double-clutched and couldn't throw out Trea Turner in-time for an inning-ending double play. Luckily, the damage was controlled after Bryce Harper flew out.

In the 4th inning, it was just one bad pitch that Luis Gil threw to Brandon Marsh, who put it into the seats. The Phillies were closing the early gap, and after 4 innings the score was 3-2 in favor of the Yankees.

However, the Yankees weren't having that. After a Gleyber Torres ground out, Ben Rice and Anthony Volpe went back-to-back with singles. Alex Verdugo followed them up with a walk, and then Juan Soto came through with a big 2-RBI double. (Yankees 5, Phillies 2.) Aaron Judge would then strike out looking, but Austin Wells came through with a HUGE 2-RBI STAND-UP TRIPLE! (It was nearly a home run, and he did get lucky from the bounce, but that's still crazy from a catcher.) After the big 4-run inning, Luis Gil held the Phillies scoreless in the 5th and the Yankees had a big 7-2 lead through more than half of the game.

The Yankees didn't score in the top of the 6th inning, but the trend of scoring happening every inning did continue. The Phillies worked Luis Gil into a 2-on, 1-out situation before Brandon Marsh came through with a hard RBI single that rolled under the diving glove of Ben Rice. This marked the end of Luis Gil's night, and in relief came Michael Tonkin, who used one pitch to get J.T. Realmuto to ground out into a 6-4-3 inning ending double-play.

In the 7th inning, Aaron Judge made sure a run was scored by hitting his second home run of the night, scoring Juan Soto and giving the Yankees a 9-3 lead. However, in the bottom of the inning, after a Bryson Stott 1-out single, a ground-out let him get to second, a wild pitch got him to third, and another wild pitch from Michael Tonkin allowed him to score. However, no other damage was done.

In the top of the 8th inning, Gleyber Torres walked and then Anthony Volpe hit a 2-run home run to keep the scoring going. After that, Alex Verdugo singled and Juan Soto drove him in with his 2nd RBI double on the night. In the bottom of the 8th, the Yankees brought in Yoendrys Gomez and though two runners got on (one because of a Gleyber Torres error, the other a walk), no runs scored for the Phillies.

In the top of the 9th, the Phillies sent out Garrett Stubbs (a catcher) to pitch. He walked Giancarlo Stanton and allowed Jazz Chisholm's second home run on the night. Yankees 14, Phillies 4. In the bottom of the inning, Gomez allowed just a single in between getting three easy outs.

Yankees win! Yankees dominate against the Phillies!

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The Yankees offense has come to life recently. That's awesome! I'm pumped. I'm becoming truly excited to watch the team again, like I was back in April and May.

I love watching Juan Soto, I can tell Jazz Chisholm Jr. is going to be a fan favorite. Aaron Judge is amazing and I can't imagine anybody saying he's not fun to watch play baseball. Austin Wells has been one of the best catchers in the MLB this year. Anthony Volpe is slowly improving (keep him LOW in the line-up!). Giancarlo Stanton is back and you can't not root for him either.

However, this recent surge should not have the front office complacent. They need to continue to add to this team's offense. They need a true third-baseman. They could use an upgrade at first base and allow Ben Rice to cook more in the minors (pun intended).

Today will be a very interesting day to see what happens on the trade market. Come back later this morning and follow along with me via the 2024 Trade Deadline Megathreads! I will be posting one this morning at 10:00 AM and then another this afternoon at 2:00 PM!

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Next Up - Tonight, the Yankees (62-45) will play the middle game of their series in Citizen's Bank Park this year against the Philadelphia Phillies (65-40). The Yankees will hope that Gerrit Cole (3-2, 5.40 ERA) can rediscover his ace status, as the Phillies will be sending out a great pitcher in Aaron Nola (11-4, 3.44 ERA). Coverage begins at 6:40 PM on YES (with nationwide coverage on TBS).