Judge Says “All Rise!” Warren Rules...
Judge Says “All Rise!” Warren Rules and The Heir Rendered the Final Verdict
By John Nielsen
September 10, 2026
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Will Warren (10–6) tossed six strong innings of one-run ball and Aaron Judge added two solid hits in his second game back from the injured list as the Yankees (83–62) cruised past the Rockies (55–90), 6–1, in the Bronx.
The Yankees have now hit their “high water” mark of the season – 21 games over .500 and leading the American League in run differential (+124) by a wide margin, more than 50% greater than the Boston Red Sox (+82).
The Yankees continue to trail the implacable Tampa Bay Rays by four games in the race for the American League East crown. New York, however, extended its lead for the AL Wild Card No. 1 seed to five games in the loss column over the Red Sox. Increasingly, it appears that the Yankees’ postseason will begin, just as it did in 2025, with a three-game series against Boston at Yankee Stadium.
Judge’s and Warren’s contributions aside, the biggest moment belonged to George Lombard Jr., whose third home run of the season—the Yankees’ first grand slam of 2026—broke the game wide open in the third inning. Lombard’s lazy opposite-field fly off Rockies’ starter Tomoyuki Sugano (12–9) carried just far enough to reach the short porch in right field, giving New York a commanding 5–0 lead.
The grand slam by the 21-year-old rookie was the youngest “bases drunk” homer by a Yankee in 74 years, surpassed only by the 20-year-old Mickey Mantle in 1952. Even more impressively, since 1920, only Mantle and Lou Gehrig have recorded four-RBI games for the Yankees at a younger age than Lombard. Good company, indeed.
Where There’s a Will, Often There’s a Win
Will Warren was strong again, throwing 95 pitches—65 for strikes—over six full innings of four-hit baseball. He allowed just one run, a solo homer by Connor Norby, while walking two and striking out eight. The performance lowered Warren’s ERA to 4.05. Over his last three outings, Warren has allowed only two earned runs over 15 1/3 IP (1.17 ERA).
For a fifth starter, Warren has been a Godsend. The Yankees are now 18–9 in his starts, and Wednesday marked his eighth quality start of 2026—two more than he delivered in 2025, when New York went 17–16 in his 33 starts. His year-over-year improvement is evident, and he has earned deserved consideration as a postseason contributor in some capacity.
Warren will undoubtedly move to the bullpen for October, but for two seasons he has answered the call every fifth day and provided something every contending team needs: stability. He may never be a top-of-the-rotation ace, but for a Yankee pitching staff battered by seemingly constant injuries, Warren has been a steadying presence—and that may be his greatest superpower.
Who Exceeded Expectations?
The Yankees took an early lead in the bottom of the second on Luis Garcia Jr.’s 29th home run of the season, a 413-foot no-doubter that landed deep in the stands in right-center field. Talk about Godsends. Garcia's acquisition has to be acknowledged as a major victory for Brian Cashman at the deadline.
With two outs in the third, Judge singled. Garcia, who scored twice on the night, followed with a ringing double, bringing up Spencer Jones. Jones battled through an eight-pitch at-bat, coaxing a walk to load the bases for The Heir. Lombard delivered, and the Yankees cruised from there.
Jones later added his 12th double of the season, continuing to look increasingly comfortable in the heart of the Yankees’ batting order while playing more than competently—and certainly better than Trent Grisham—in center field.
Cody Bellinger closed out the scoring in the eighth with a laser into the right-field seats—his 13th home run of the season—to make it a 6–1 final.
The bullpen—John Schreiber (15 pitches), Paul Blackburn (11) and Michael Fulmer (14)—delivered three highly efficient innings of shutout baseball, allowing just one hit, walking one and striking out three. With elite starting pitching and relief work like this behind them, it’s easy to understand why the Yankees are now 53–6 when they score five or more runs. In the two games since Judge returned, New York has scored five and six runs, respectively, and won both games comfortably.
The Yankee defense was equally impressive. Ryan McMahon made a terrific running snag of a pop foul against the screen behind third base; José Caballero made a Baryshnikov-like leaping catch of a soft liner to his left in shallow right; Lombard dove to his right in the 5–6 hole to take away a likely base hit; and, most critically, Garcia, Lombard and Warren turned a beautiful 3–6–1 double play on a grounder hit into the 3–4 hole by Cole Carrigg to end the fifth, with Warren hustling to cover first.
Warren’s emphatic fist pump after completing the double play and escaping the inning without further damage said it all.
Who Disappointed?
The Yankees struck out just six times—one of their lowest totals in recent memory. Still, several hitters struggled.
Ben Rice and McMahon went 0-for-4, Caballero went 0-for-3, and Austin Wells finished 0-for-2.
Beyond those four, three of whom enjoyed the platoon advantage all evening, there was little to criticize. In a 6–1 victory marked by pitching, power hitting, and defense, Wednesday offered precious little for Yankee fans to complain about. There were no fielding errors, nor were there any base running lapses.
What’s Coming Next?
The series with the Rockies concludes Thursday night, as the Yankees look for the sweep with southpaw Max Fried (4–4, 2.73 ERA) taking the bump for New York against Colorado right-hander Ryan Feltner (5–9, 5.91 ERA).
Judge, who vociferously objected to being removed from Tuesday’s game after six innings in his maiden voyage off the injured list, played nearly eight full innings Wednesday night. The Captain was replaced, after his second single, by Jasson Domínguez, who pinch-ran and took over in right field in the ninth.
Before the game, the Yankees announced that Jazz Chisholm Jr. would be placed on the injured list prior to Thursday’s series finale after damaging his right thumb while sliding headfirst in a futile attempt to stretch a single into a double late in Tuesday’s game. Chisholm was in the Yankee dugout Wednesday night with his right hand in a splint. He is expected to be sidelined for a while, beginning with seven days of absolutely no baseball activity. Given the timing and potential severity of the injury, his Yankee career may be over.
With Chisholm headed to the injured list, the Yankees urgently needed an infielder and recalled a newly minted version of Anthony Volpe, who has been getting reps at second base while tearing the cover off the ball at Triple-A since being sent down August 3. Since then, Volpe has slashed .295/.393/.667 with 10 home runs, 31 RBI, 22 runs scored and eight stolen bases in 122 plate appearances with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He might be the hottest hitter in all of minor league baseball for the last month. In 19 starts (162 1/3 innings) at the keystone, Volpe made only a single error in 78 chances (.987 Fielding Percentage) with a Range Factor of 4.27 chances per nine. This compares favorably to Chisholm's raw defensive numbers (.982 Fielding Percentage and 3.95 chances per nine), albeit at the Major League level. Jazz has played a solidly above average second base in 2026.
Volpe appears to have been given new life—and perhaps a golden opportunity to audition for what could be an open second-base job in 2027, particularly with Chisholm headed to free agency this offseason.
Clarke Schmidt may not be far behind. Schmidt, on a rehab assignment following Tommy John surgery last year, has now made three relief appearances at Triple-A, allowing just one earned run over six innings. There is obviously no room for him in the postseason rotation, but Schmidt—who broke into the majors as a reliever in 2022—could be an intriguing bullpen addition alongside Warren and Ryan Weathers, joining David Bednar, Brent Headrick, Blackburn, Tim Hill, Ryan Yarbrough and/or Luis Gil.
Kudos are certainly due to depth relievers such as Yerry De Los Santos (1.35 ERA, 20 IP), along with late-season scrap-heap acquisitions Michael Fulmer (3.38 ERA, 5⅓ IP) and John Schreiber (0.00 ERA, 4⅓ IP). It seems unlikely that any of them will populate New York’s postseason roster, but they have done yeoman’s work helping the Yankees get to the finish line. Each has had his effective moments, and collectively they have made a meaningful contribution. When a tired and depleted bullpen – blatantly denied reinforcements at the trade deadline – was gasping for air, they provided much-needed oxygen.
Fernando Cruz and Carlos LeGrange could also be playoff and World Series bullpen options if they can get healthy over the next two and a half weeks. However, given the late date on the calendar, both should be considered long shots.
New York is now 5–2 in September, with just 17 games remaining—11 at home and six on the road. In their seven September games, the Yankees have scored five or more runs five times, going 5–0 in those games while averaging 4.9 runs per game. Both of their September losses have come by a single run against San Diego, including one in extra innings. Overall, the Yankees have allowed just 18 runs through their first seven games of the month, an average of only 2.6 runs per game.
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