Yankees Rally, Then Hang On for 9–7 Win

Yankees Rally, Then Hang On for 9–7 Win to Clinch Third Straight Series

Giancarlo Stanton Delivers with Bat—and Surprisingly, His Legs

By John Nielsen

April 5, 2026

***

On a cold, raw Saturday night in the Bronx, the Yankees endured their worst starting pitching performance of the young 2026 season, fell behind by as many as four runs, and were outhit 15–6, yet still found a way to grind out a wild 9–7 comeback victory.

The win pushed the Yankees to 7–1, matching a franchise-best start, and secured their third consecutive series victory. The Pinstripes will look to complete a sweep of the Marlins on Easter Sunday at 1 p.m. on YES, when Max Fried (2–0) makes his third start of the season against Miami’s Chris Paddack (0–1).

The Yankees came out flat, due in large part to an inefficient outing from starter Ryan Weathers. Though he once again flashed electric stuff—touching 99 mph—his command was inconsistent, forcing him into repeated deep counts. Manager Aaron Boone lifted Weathers after 88 pitches with two outs and no one on in the fourth.

The contact-oriented Marlins, quietly touting MLB's 5th best record since June 20, 2025, didn’t hit the ball particularly hard but capitalized nonetheless by simply putting the ball in play. Aside from a hard-hit two-run triple by Heriberto Hernandez into the right-center field gap in the first, Miami “dinked and dunked” its way to three runs on six hits, aided by three walks by the time Weathers departed.

Reliever Paul Blackburn immediately compounded the trouble, allowing an additional unearned run following a defensive breakdown. A misplay—resulting in an unfairly charged throwing error to Cody Bellinger—left third base uncovered, and Bellinger's correct but errant throw from left field, gave Miami a substantial 4–0 lead midway through the game.

At that point, Marlins starter Max Meyer appeared firmly in control, cruising through four innings behind a sharp slider. But the game turned in the fifth. Aaron Judge lined a two-out single, and Bellinger followed with a clutch two-run, 394-foot homer to right-center, his first of the season, cutting the deficit to 4–2 and ending Meyer’s night.

The Yankee bullpen stabilized things in the sixth, as Blackburn and Tim Hill combined for a scoreless top half. That set the stage for a pivotal rally.

Andrew Nardi, struggling with control, walked three of the four batters he faced, including a leadoff free pass to pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt. After Nardi was lifted, Anthony Bender drilled José Caballero with a riding fastball to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Following a Ryan McMahon strikeout, Trent Grisham delivered an RBI single to left, scoring a laboring Goldschmidt from 2nd and making it 4–3. A curious defensive decision helped the Yankees on the play: Hernandez’s strong throw home was cut off by third baseman Javier Sanoja, eliminating a potential play at the plate. Moments later, Judge tied the game with a single to right, sending Grisham to third with one out, with the teams knotted at four.

Bellinger then gave the Yankees their first lead with a sacrifice fly to left. Grisham scored on a bang-bang play at the plate, evading catcher Agustín Ramírez with a deft, feet-first slide after what initially looked like a potentially dangerous misstep when he caught a spike as he began his slide. The Yankees led 5–4.

The Yankees added an insurance run in the seventh—and it came in unexpected fashion - a run completely manufactured by Giancarlo Stanton! Stanton reached on a walk, then stunned everyone (fans, broadcasters, and particularly his teammates) by stealing second base—his first regular-season steal since August 2020. With Miami failing to hold him on, Stanton saw an opportunity, and seized the moment/base. He advanced to third on a groundout, and scored on a passed ball by Ramírez, extending the lead to 6–4.

But the game was far from over.

Camilo Doval struggled in the eighth, surrendering two runs, including a game-tying double by Sanoja. Brett Headrick (1–0) entered to stop the bleeding and keep the game tied at six.

In the bottom half, Stanton again delivered, this time with his bat. With two outs, he culminated a 7-pitch at bat by lining a go-ahead single into left-center scoring two off Michael Petersen (1–1), who had walked the bases loaded. Another Ramírez passed ball brought home Ben Rice, pushing the lead to 9–6.

Ramírez, a former Yankee farmhand and key piece in the 2024 Jazz Chisholm trade, had a night of extremes. Defensive miscues—including the missed tag on Grisham, allowing the Stanton steal, and multiple run-scoring passed balls—were offset by his impressive work overturning five Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) calls, which gave Miami several momentum changing reversals at key moments.

With a three-run cushion, Boone turned to closer David Bednar. Things quickly got tense. Bednar allowed a leadoff infield hit—helped by a lackadaisical play from Chisholm—followed by a pair of seeing-eye singles (scoring one run to make it 9-7)  and then a walk. With the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate, Bednar bore down and struck out Griffin Conine to end the game, sealing a gritty win.

Additional Game Notes:

• After drawing 11 walks in Friday’s 8–2 win, the Yankees added 10 more in this game. It marks the first time since 1997 that the team has recorded double-digit walks in consecutive games.

  
  

• The game was delayed nearly 15 minutes in the fourth inning when plate umpire Ron Kulpa exited after taking a foul ball off his mask. With no replacement available, the game finished with a three-man crew, as Scott Barry moved behind the plate.

  
  

• The game lasted 3:49—an unusually long regulation-length 9-inning contest in the pitch clock era.

  
  

• The Yankee bullpen continues to log unsustainably heavy usage. In all, six Yankee relievers threw a whopping 110 pitches, raising potential workload concerns moving forward.  

• Bednar threw 33 pitches after a 40-pitch outing Wednesday in Seattle, This is the most pitches he's thrown in consecutive games in his career.

  
  

• This was a wild back-and-forth affair from start to finish with a run scored by either the Yankees, Marlins or both teams in every inning except the third.