About Last Night: Yankees 3, Guardians 2

June 10th, 2026

By: Derek McAdam

The New York Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians last night by a score of 3-2, led by a solid pitching performance from the bullpen. The Yankees improved to 40-26 on the season with the victory. Here’s a quick recap of last night’s game.

Quick Stats: W: Camilo Doval (2-0): 1 IP, 1 H

L: Tim Herrin (0-2): 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

S: Fernando Cruz (1): 1.2 IP, 1 BB, 4 K

HRs: NYY: Spencer Jones (1), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (9)

Big Story: The Yankees were coming off their first extra-inning victory of the season on Monday night, taking the first of three games against the Guardians. And in going for the series victory, the Yankees sent Gerrit Cole to the mound for his fourth start of the season, and the second against Cleveland.

In the 2nd, after Chisholm worked a walked to lead off the inning, Jones hit a no-doubt home run to straightaway center field for his first MLB home run, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

The Yankees also put themselves into a situation with runners on the corners and one out in the 3rd for Cody Bellinger, who grounded into a fielder’s choice to keep the score at 2-0. Chisholm then flied out to center field to end the inning.

In the bottom of the inning, Jose Ramirez reached on a two-out single and stole second base. Chase DeLauter then hit a ground ball that snuck past Anthony Volpe, scoring Ramirez and cutting the Yankee lead down to 2-1. Cole then loaded the bases for Angel Martinez, who reached on an infield single, one that Cole did not immediately get to first base on. The score became tied at 2-2 due to the hit. Steven Kwan then grounded out to Cole to end the inning, leaving the bases loaded.

The Yankees threatened in the 4th with runners on the corners with one out, but JC Escarra struck out and Trent Grisham grounded out to end the inning, keeping the game tied. Cole also worked himself into some trouble in the bottom of the inning, but ended up stranding runners at the corners to end the inning.

Cole’s night was complete after four innings, and it really seemed as if he was battling over the last two innings. The heat was definitely a factor, but both of his bad starts this season have come against Cleveland.

In the 8th, Chisholm led off the inning with a go-ahead solo home run to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. And yet again, he used Aaron Judge’s bat the hit the home run.

Jake Bird came in relief for the bottom of the inning, but managed to only record one out and left runners on 1st and 2nd for Cruz, who struck out Travis Bazzana and got Ramirez to fly out to end the inning and keep the Yankee lead.

To close out the game, Cruz was looked on to go out for the five-out save. DeLauter worked a four-pitch walk to lead off the inning, but Cruz struck out the side to end the game and give the Yankees a series victory.

Player of the Game: Cruz came on and absolutely showed how incredible he is in nearly any situation for the Yankees. David Bednar had been worked hard the past couple of outings and had pitched Sunday and Monday. Cruz was the only reliever that did not pitch Monday and came in and delivered an absolutely stellar performance.

Notable Performances: Jones and Chisholm provided the Yankees with their only runs on the board. Congratulations to Jones for his first MLB home run and Chisholm for his go-ahead and ultimate game-winning home run. The Yankee bullpen as a whole also did a phenomenal job, allowing no runs.

Better to Forget: Volpe continues to look bad at the plate and made a costly mistake in the field that allowed Cleveland to ultimately score their only runs of the game.

My Take: How sweet it is to win a series against a team with a winning record! The Yankees were finally able to take a series against a very good team and will go for the sweep today. But let me break down a couple of different factors.

Jones had four good at-bats last night. Two of these resulted in hits and two resulted in fly-outs, but I’m glad to see him not strike out once. I believe that he should be playing every day to get as much MLB experience as possible. Judge may be out for longer than expected, so the Yankees would gladly take production from the youngster.

Chisholm, once again, used Judge’s bat and hit a home run with it. Many Yankee fans and the media have said that Ben Rice is the Yankee that has to step up in Judge’s absence. I could not disagree more. Rice has done his job all season. The Yankees need players such as Chisholm and Grisham and even Bellinger to step up. Bellinger did so in the first game and Chisholm did so last night.

Cole really struggled in the 3rd and 4th innings of his start. And yet he still cannot cover first base after the debacle in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. It does not matter what he “thinks” was going to happen. That’s a play that Cole has to cover first on and the inning continued. A run scored, but luckily no further damage was done. Cleveland has not been kind to Cole this season.

And the Yankee bullpen did their job very well last night, holding the Guardians to five shutout innings. With as taxed as they have been lately, this was a spectacular performance. They probably cannot wait for the upcoming off day tomorrow, as well as Monday.

This was a great win for the Yankees to take the series and go for the sweep today. They needed a “prove-it” series against a good team such as Cleveland to show that they can beat teams above .500. And they did just that. What would make it even better is if they get the sweep today. It’s going to be a solid pitching matchup this afternoon, so tune in if you can!

What’s Next?: The Yankees will be back in action this afternoon before enjoying an off day tomorrow before they head to Toronto for a weekend series against the Blue Jays. Carlos Rodon is scheduled to take the mound for the Yankees, while Parker Messick is scheduled to start for the Guardians. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. EST from Progressive Field.