About Last Night: The Yankees Schooled the A’s 3-0

About Last Night: The Yankees Schooled the A’s 3-0

By Tim Kabel

June 28, 2025

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The Yankees opened the three-game series with the Athletics with a shutout victory. It was their second win in a row. It was not a thing of beauty, but it was a victory. That's really all that matters. Will Warren continued his maturation and growth as a Major League pitcher and the Yankees made the most of their four hits.

Quick Stats – 

·       Will Warren threw 36 pitches in the first inning but settled down to throw 39 pitches from the second through the fourth innings.

·       Jazz Chisolm, Jr. hit his 89th home run in his 500th Major League game last night. Chisholm has 89 home runs and 109 stolen bases in those 500 games. The only other players with as many home runs and stolen bases through 500 career games are Eric Davis and Alfonso Soriano.

·       Will Warren had his seventh start with seven or more strikeouts, which is the most among MLB rookies. His 103 strikeouts this season lead MLB rookies.

·       Aaron Judge was walked intentionally for the 18th time this season in the third inning before Cody Bellinger singled and drove in a run.

·      The Yankees are 47-34 at the midway point of the season. That puts them on a pace for 94 wins. Last year at the halfway point, the Yankees were 52-29 and actually did win 94 games.

·       The A's were shutout for the sixth time this season.

·       Will Warren has 39 strikeouts on called third strikes which is the most in the Majors.

·       Before the game, Spencer Jones was promoted to AAA Scranton, where he promptly hit a home run.

·       In a predictable but dubious decision, the Yankees announced that Marcus Stroman will be pitching Sunday's game against Oakland.

·       On June 27, 1998, the Yankees beat the Mets 7-2, winning the first regular season series between the two teams at Shea Stadium. 

The Big Story – 

The Yankees did not play a great game, or even a very good game Friday night. They played well enough to win, which is what they need to do. The A's, who are now housed in Sacramento, are not a very good team. They have the second-worst record in the American League. And the third-worst record in the Major Leagues. So, before we get too excited about the win, let's keep things in perspective. However, it is important because this was the type of game that the Yankees need to win to make the postseason and hopefully win the American League East. They had not been doing a very good job of that lately. They have now put two wins together which may not seem like much, but it's a starting point. You can't walk a hundred miles without taking the first step.

Player of the Game – 

Will Warren struggled at the beginning of the game, walking three batters in the first inning. However, he buckled down and pitched five shutout innings. In the past, Warren might have crumbled and been knocked out of the game very early. He is developing as a pitcher.

Notable Performances – 

Jazz Chisholm hit his 12th home run on the season to give the Yankees a lead they would never relinquish.

Cody Bellinger had two hits and drove in a run. He had half of the Yankees’ total number of hits last night.

Better To Forget-

Giancarlo Stanton was hitless and has a total of ten hits since coming off the IL on June 16th. Nine of those hits were singles. He is beginning to clog up the middle of the lineup as many of us predicted. 

My Take – 

I'm not always right. I try to be right more often than I am wrong, and I think I'm successful in that effort. There are times when I am right, but I wish I wasn't. Last night was one of those occasions. In Wednesday night's game, Jasson Dominguez had four hits with two from each side of the plate. He scored two runs and had two stolen bases. It was his first four-hit night in his Major League career. After the game in my recap, I wrote that it was more than likely that Dominguez would be benched for last night's game. I was correct. I also stated that it made no sense to me for that to happen, but that logic and common sense rarely factored into the decisions made by Aaron Boone. Sadly, I was correct on all counts.

I have written many times, as have others, that Aaron Boone is abysmal when it comes to developing young players. He seems disinterested and almost neglectful to them. Dominguez needs to play as often as possible for his benefit and for the benefit of the team. It will be very difficult for him to grow and improve by playing haphazardly, as he has been. It also makes no sense to bench him against a right-handed pitcher in the game after his first four-hit game. Dominguez seems to be a very confident and focused young man, but such a move could cause a young player to be confused and frustrated.

Look at it this way: who is more important to the Yankees’ present and future, Trent Grisham or Jasson Dominguez? Who is more important to the Yankees’ present and future, Giancarlo Stanton or Jasson Dominguez? Who is more important to the Yankees present and future, Cody Bellinger or Jasson Dominguez? The answer to all three of those questions would seem to be Jasson Dominguez.

Let's contrast the way Jasson Dominguez is being handled as compared to the way Will Warren is being treated. Warren has remained in the rotation despite some struggles. He has pitched in his turn every time. He has been given opportunities to mature, grow, and improve. Perhaps that's because there is a buffer between Aaron Boone and Will Warren. That buffer is the pitching coach, Matt Blake. There is no buffer between Jasson Dominguez and Aaron Boone. There appears to be no rhyme or reason to the way Dominguez is being handled. He has been jerked in and out of the lineup and it seems that very often after a big game, he sits on the bench. That is not how you develop a young player.

Boone has allowed Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells to play much more frequently than Jasson Dominguez, perhaps because he does not have any viable options to replace them. However, his hands-off approach with Volpe and Wells seems to have stalled their progress as players. Remember, two years ago when Volpe was struggling and reverted to previous hitting techniques to find success? That had nothing to do with Aaron Boone or the coaching staff. Austin Wells sat down with him over dinner and reviewed videos. These young players, including Dominguez, Wells, Volpe, and Ben Rice are important parts of the team now and in the future. 

Aaron Boone has not demonstrated any ability to help develop young players. This is another reason why he should be replaced because who is more important to the present and future of the Yankees, Aaron Boone or this group of young players? Spencer Jones was just promoted to Scranton. It won't be long before he will be in the Major Leagues, being yanked in and out of the lineup willy-nilly by Aaron Boone. There needs to be a change of manager in the Bronx.

In the meantime, I have an idea. Remember those books that they used to have for children, “Where's Waldo?” The bespectacled Waldo, who always wore a red and white striped shirt and hat was interspersed into various pictures of crowds and children had to pick him out. We could now produce a new book called “Where's Jasson?” Before the game, fans could guess where Dominguez would be: In left field? At DH? Or in what is becoming his natural habitat, On the bench?

Next Up-

The Yankees will play the second game of the three-game series against the A’s this afternoon at 1:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. JP Sears, (5-7, 5.44 ERA) will pitch for Sacra-Tomato. The Yankees will send Clarke Schmidt, (4-3, 2.84 ERA) to the mound. Let's hope Sears is having a discount on runs today.

Note - The image was created by Microsoft Copilot