Wonders Never Cease – Yankees Re-Capture Series Finale

Wonders Never Cease – Yankees Re-Capture Series Finale with Bennie Barrels Bomb in Extra Innings

By John Nielsen

August 17, 2026

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Ben Rice and his New York Yankees teammates seemingly kicked away a game they should have won in regulation Sunday, only to reclaim it in extra innings. Ultimately, the Yankees (69-55) salvaged one of three games in their weekend series against the Blue Jays (61-65) at Rogers Centre in Toronto, overcoming an otherwise dominating start by Dylan Cease.

Behind another brilliant outing from Ryan Weathers, the Yankees carried a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth. With closer David Bednar on four days’ rest, manager Aaron Boone called on him for a five-out save. Bednar appeared well-positioned to record his 17th consecutive save, dating back to May 17.

Then came an unforced error and Bednar’s 3^rd blown save of the year.

Ben Rice misplayed a routine ground ball from Josh Smith to lead off the ninth, opening the door for Toronto to tie the game on an Ernie Clement sacrifice fly without recording a hit and send it to extra innings—a place of abject failure for the Yankees all season.

With the Yankees seemingly playing for a single run in the top of the 10th, Jose Caballero bunted ghost runner Ali Sánchez to third to begin the inning. Rice then effectively won the game with a massive 438-foot home run to right-center, giving the Yankees a two-run cushion and a gritty extra-inning victory. Rice had been mired in a prolonged 4-for-48 slump until the blast.

Tim Hill closed it out in the 10th, allowing Toronto only a single unearned run as the Yankees escaped with the win. The victory improved New York to 3-9 in extra innings this season.

Pitching

Ryan Weathers turned the tables on Toronto on Sunday. In his two previous starts against the Blue Jays (May 18 and June 12), they had their way with him, according to Statcast:

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Date	IP	H	ER	BB	K	P	HH	Sink	4-Sm	Swp	C-Up	Slider
5/18	5.1	7	5	0	7	90	8	23%	21%	23%	20%	12%
6/12	4.1	5	6	1	2	82	5	32%	28%	18%	12%	10%
8/16	7.1	6	1	1	4	95	5	41%	5%	15%	36%	3%

Effectively abandoning his four-seam fastball and occasional slider in favor of his changeup and a heavier dose of his sinker, Weathers kept the Blue Jays off balance and frustrated, inducing ground ball after ground ball all afternoon. Instead of surrendering home runs—he had allowed two in each of his previous two starts against Toronto—Weathers generated 13 ground-ball outs Sunday, including three double plays, without giving up a single long ball.

This latest performance continues a remarkable trend over Weathers’ last five starts, dating back to July 25. Since dramatically changing his pitch mix, he has allowed just three earned runs over 31⅔ innings, good for a 0.85 ERA. The Yankees have won four of those five starts, with the lone exception being a 2-1, 11-inning loss to the White Sox (July 30).

In short, Weathers is making a compelling claim to retain the fifth-starter spot for the stretch run. As much as I like his stuff as a potential late-inning weapon out of the bullpen, I don’t see how you take him out of the rotation at this point.

When Carlos Rodón returns this coming week, it should be Will Warren—not Weathers—who gets relegated to the pen. Perhaps Weathers becomes that left-handed late-inning weapon once the rotation is reduced to four in the playoffs?

Bednar’s save streak should have remained intact—and likely would have—were it not for Rice’s fielding error and Bednar’s own untimely wild pitch in the ninth, which helped fuel the Jays’ game-tying run. Instead, Bednar (6-3) threw 28 pitches over 1⅔ innings to pick up the win, lowering his ERA to 2.48. An impending free agent, Bednar has been an absolute bulldog over the last three months. Whatever success the Yankees enjoy during the stretch run and into the postseason will be highly dependent on what the former Lafayette College Leopard can deliver with his right arm and mental toughness.

Tim Hill efficiently closed things out, throwing an 11-pitch 10th inning featuring three ground-ball outs and an unearned “Manfred Man” run to earn his second save.

In all, the Yankee bullpen pitched 2.2 innings of one hit, one walk baseball.

Dylan Cease was outstanding for Toronto, throwing 104 pitches over 6⅔ innings while allowing just two hits—doubles by Heliot Ramos and George Lombard Jr., with the latter ending Cease’s outing in the seventh. He also issued three walks and struck out 10.

Cease has emerged as the primary challenger to Cam Schlittler for the 2026 American League Cy Young Award. His ERA edged up to 2.42 over 137⅔ innings, with 5.1 bWAR, while Schlittler now sits at a 2.19 ERA over 152 innings and 5.0 bWAR.

Hitting

Apart from Rice’s home run and the doubles by Lombard and Ramos, the Yankees did almost nothing offensively—mustering only late singles by García and Chisholm—save for the disruptive force that is José Caballero, who came through with a crucial walk and a clutch hit.

In the third, Cabby cagily manufactured a run, drawing a walk after an extended plate appearance in which he had two ABS challenges overturned in his favor. He advanced to second on a weak groundout by Rice, stole third—his 30th of the season—and scored on a Luis García Jr. sacrifice fly.

Caballero struck again in the seventh, plating Lombard with a clutch lined single to left to put the Yankees ahead 2-1—and coming within a fraction of an inch of making it 3-1.

Base Running

The Caballero run-scoring single that brought home Lombard also appeared to temporarily score Chisholm from first, as Caballero aggressively rounded first and headed for second on left fielder Daz Cameron’s throw home. Catcher Alejandro Kirk cut off the throw and fired to second to erase Cabby.

Instead, Caballero—recognizing the play developing in front of him and the speed of Chisholm, who was now rounding third—got himself intentionally caught in a rundown. He appeared to dive out of the way of a tag attempt by first baseman Charles McAdoo before safely returning to first, with no one left for Toronto in the rundown to cover the open bag. Meanwhile, Chisholm crossed home plate.

The Blue Jays challenged the call, however, and replay overturned the initial ruling, showing that McAdoo had just barely nicked the sweatband on Cabby’s right wrist—clearly before Jazz crossed the plate. Instead of 3-1, the Yankees led only 2-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

It was a brilliant play by Caballero to try to secure an important insurance run for the Yankees. This was not a base-running mistake; it was a calculated gamble.

It almost worked. Almost.

Several other Yankees also ran wild on the bases Sunday, with stolen bases by Lombard—the first of his career—Ramos, his fourth, and Chisholm, his 32nd. Caballero added his important steal of third in the third inning.

The Yankees do not win Sunday without the whirling-dervish-like energy and baseball IQ of Caballero.

Defense

Apart from the unforced and untimely fielding error by Rice, the Yankees’ defense was strong Sunday.

Three ground-ball double plays—including a rare and brilliant 5-3-5 sparkler that Ryan McMahon and Rice combined on, capped by a diving tag by McMahon at the third-base bag—helped Weathers when he needed it most. Lombard Jr., Caballero and Rice also turned two slick “two-fers.”

Spencer Jones made a terrific catch at a key moment, snagging a towering fly down the right-field line right up against the netting.

A rumbling, stumbling “Skates” Ramos also made an important—if frightful—sprinting grab of a hard liner to left with a runner aboard, squelching another Toronto threat. For a moment it looked like Ramos wouldn’t be able to keep his feet and who knows what might have transpired?

Really Bad Day for the Umpiring Crew

There were 12 ABS challenges in Sunday’s game, with nine calls overturned. Hunter Wendelstedt appeared to have no consistent understanding of the strike zone from start to finish. His performance behind the plate was abysmal.

The rest of the crew, Brock Ballou at first, Vic Carapazza at second and Nic Lentz at third—wasn’t much better, with two additional calls reversed by replay in the field.

The Upcoming Week

It is likely Rodón will return to the rotation this coming week. It is also possible that Cody Bellinger will return to left field. Adding both would provide welcome boosts to the rotation, outfield defense, and batting order.

Moving Warren to the bullpen would be another welcome development, bolstering a relief corps that must be exhausted 124 games into the season—and one that received no reinforcements at the trade deadline. This is the gamble Cashman signed up for.

The Yankees get an extremely welcome day off today before continuing their road trip in Baltimore, with night games scheduled Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday against the Orioles (61-63). New York then returns to Yankee Stadium for a weekend series against the Blue Jays, followed by a three-game home set against Houston and a critical four-game series against Boston on home turf.

For now, it appears Will Warren (8-6, 4.42 ERA), Max Fried (4-4, 2.81 ERA) and Gerrit Cole (6-6, 3.22 ERA) are slated to start for the Yankees in Baltimore—unless Carlos Rodón (4-2, 3.30 ERA), who has been out since July 3, is deemed ready to return. Rodón pitched 4⅓ scoreless innings for Double-A Somerset on Thursday, August 13, striking out seven, suggesting he could be ready to go as soon as Tuesday in Baltimore.