Yanks Top Diamondbacks
Yankees Put Up Five-Spot in the First, Close to Within 4.0 Games of Rays; Judge’s Season and Postseason in Jeopardy
By John Nielsen
September 19, 2026
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Cole Rocks and Rice’s Knocks Lead the Way
The New York Yankees (89–64) jumped on Arizona Diamondbacks starter Eduardo Rodríguez for five first-inning runs Friday night in Phoenix and cruised to a 9–2 victory over Arizona (80–74), which has now lost six of its last eight, playing themselves out of the NL Wild Card race.
The victory was bittersweet, however. Before first pitch, the Yankees announced that Captain Aaron Judge would be placed on the Injured List, retroactive to Thursday, with no clear timetable provided for his return. The best case scenario is a return for the last game or two of the regular season.
The win pushed New York back to a season-high 25 games over .500 and trimmed Tampa Bay’s American League East lead to 4.0 games after the Rays fell to Boston, 4–2. The Yankees have two games remaining in Arizona before returning home for a four-game head-to-head confrontation with Tampa Bay beginning Tuesday with a doubleheader.
New York has gone 11–4 in September, but Tampa Bay has essentially held serve at 11–5. The Yankees have gained only a half-game on the Rays so far this month, setting up a decisive four-game series in the Bronx. New York must make up ground before, during and perhaps after that series to keep the division title within reach.
The postseason equation is simple: win the division, and the Yankees earn a first-round bye and advance directly to the Division Series with home-field advantage. Finish behind Tampa Bay, and New York opens the playoffs at home against Boston in a high-pressure, three-game Wild Card Series. Survive Boston, and Tampa Bay—with its 53–25 home record—will await in the Division Series. The next week, therefore, will determine whether the Yankees begin October rested and waiting for an opponent or fighting for their postseason lives from the very first pitch.
The Yankees wasted little time putting Rodríguez (15–7) under pressure. The veteran left-hander, enjoying arguably his best major league season, entered play Friday with a 2.62 ERA and 5.1 bWAR, but New York’s five-run first inning put him and Arizona in a hole the D-Backs would never dig out of.
Paul Goldschmidt battled through an eight-pitch walk to lead things off, and Cody Bellinger followed with a single to right, allowing Goldschmidt to hustle into third. Heliot Ramos then walked to load the bases. Ben Rice followed with a bases-loaded walk of his own to force home the Yankees’ first run, and Amed Rosario looped a single into center to make it 2–0 before Rodríguez had recorded an out. A Rodríguez wild pitch brought home Ramos to make it 3–0, and George Lombard Jr. followed with a two-run single.
Just like that, the Yankees had a 5–0 lead for Gerrit Cole, while Rodríguez was already saddled with 45 pitches. Ultimately, Rodriguez slogged his way through 5 1/3 innings, allowing seven earned runs.
Cole, making his 21st start, bounced back from a couple of recent subpar outings, flashing a 95–97 mph four-seam fastball that he threw 45 times. He also mixed in 16 knuckle curves, 16 sliders, 12 changeups and a single cutter. Of his 90 pitches, 62 were strikes.
He wasn’t perfect, surrendering a second-inning solo homer to Corbin Carroll—his 22nd of the season—that cut the Yankees’ lead to 5–2. But Cole looked far more like his usual self than he has in recent weeks.
Evening his record at 9–9, Cole delivered his first quality start since August 27, going six innings while allowing four hits and striking out six without issuing a walk. The outing lowered his ERA to 3.63—but the bigger story was the milestone he reached along the way. With his 162nd career victory, Cole surpassed Mike Moore to become the winningest No. 1 overall draft pick in baseball history. For a pitcher who has struggled in recent weeks, it was a timely return to form on a historic night.
House money likely would fall on Cole to start the 3rd game of the Yankee postseason. Presumably, Cole will get one more start before the playoffs to do some further finetuning.
Who Exceeded Expectations?
Rice once again led the offense, as he has so often in Judge’s absence. Batting cleanup, he reached base four times, drawing two walks while adding a triple—his fourth of the season—and his 39th home run. Rice scored twice and drove in two, raising his team-leading RBI total to 94. Ben Rice is going to get some well-deserved MVP votes.
Lombard Jr. also had a big night, collecting two hits and driving in three, including his fourth home run of the season.
Goldschmidt and Ramos reached base twice and scored twice.
Behind Cole, the bullpen pieced together three scoreless innings, with Ryan Yarbrough (1.1 IP), Michael Fulmer (0.2 IP) and Luis Gil (1.0 IP) combining to allow three hits, one walk and five strikeouts. The quality relief work allowed the Yankees to keep their high-leverage arms rested, ready for the remainder of the Arizona series and, more importantly, for the four-game showdown with Tampa Bay awaiting them in the Bronx.
Who Disappointed?
Anthony Volpe was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Spencer Jones was also 0-for-4 with two strikeouts but recorded his 38th RBI on a fielder’s choice groundball that he narrowly beat out avoiding a double play in the seventh inning.
The Yankees made no errors, defensively, and recorded no outs on the bases.
Other Yankee Notes/News
The situation surrounding Aaron Judge has deeply compromised the Yankees’ postseason hopes. After the game, more than a few teammates expressed their disappointment, sadness and sympathy for the Captain, with several appearing to acknowledge that Judge’s season—and potentially his postseason—are now in jeopardy. Despite being pressed on the matter multiple times, manager Aaron Boone could offer no timetable for Judge’s return.
That uncertainty raises an uncomfortable question for the Yankees: Did they push Judge back into action too quickly or too hard? The timeline was always going to be compressed, and the Yankees needed to determine whether their captain could return to full-time duty as quickly as possible. But in doing so, they appeared to abandon a publicly stated, more cautious, prudent plan—one that would have limited his innings during the first couple of weeks, kept him primarily (if not, solely) at DH, and avoided playing him on consecutive days until the postseason. While not ideal for the Yankees’ AL East pennant chances, what the Yankees have now is far less ideal for their hopes to capture World Series Championship No. 28.
Now the Yankees face the possibility that, rather than gradually ramping Judge back up for October, they may have lost him for the remainder of the regular season—and potentially the entire postseason. For a team whose championship hopes are built around its captain and most important lineup presence, that is an enormous price to pay. With a work stoppage in play for 2027, it’s sobering to consider what little Aaron Judge may have left in the tank if he doesn’t appear next in a Yankee uniform until 2028.
IF/OF Max Schuemann got the call up from Triple-A to take Judge’s spot on the active roster.
Oswaldo Cabrera, designated for assignment by the Yankees earlier this week to clear a spot on the 40-man roster when Judge returned to active duty, landed via waiver claim with the Cincinnati Reds, where he is likely to get an opportunity over the final 10 days of the season with Cincinnati dealing with an injury-depleted roster.
Cabrera made just 11 plate appearances for New York in 2026 during a brief June 28–July 1 call-up. His career line of .232/.292/.343 (.635 OPS, 78 bOPS+) tells the story: despite his defensive versatility, he simply has not hit enough to establish himself as a dependable major-league player. That became an even bigger issue after his 2025 ankle fracture. His strong season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre—.288/.345/.444 (.790 OPS), his best minor-league season since 2022—wasn't enough to change the Yankees' calculation.
From New York's perspective, the decision was understandable. Cabrera's versatility and solid Triple-A season gave him some value, but with Oswaldo unlikely to secure a meaningful role in 2027 and potentially facing non-tender consideration this offseason, the Yankees chose to allocate his 40-man roster spot elsewhere.
That doesn't mean there was nothing to lose. Cabrera is still only 27, has an option remaining, can play virtually anywhere on the diamond and has earned a reputation as a positive clubhouse presence. Boone hoped he would clear waivers and remain an organizational depth piece awhile longer. Cincinnati had other ideas. The Reds claimed him, added him to their 40-man roster and immediately activated him.
For the Yankees, Cabrera was ultimately a victim of a roster squeeze: useful enough to have value, but not productive enough to survive it when a valuable spot on the 40-man roster was required. For Cabrera, Cincinnati provides an immediate chance to prove the Yankees' calculation premature.
What’s Coming Next?
Game Two of the series with the D-backs is set for Saturday evening, beginning at 8:15p EDT as the Yankees seek another series victory with ace and leading Cy Young candidate Cam Schlittler (14–6, 1.95 ERA) taking the bump for New York against Arizona right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (7-3, 3.77 ERA).
Why is there a picture of Matt LeBlanc in a Yankee uniform?
Judge should watch highlights of Paul O'Neill's end of 1996 season & playoffs. Nothing was keeping the "warrior" out of the lineup in those big games. Man, how things have changed.
Judge was out for an injury to his rib cage. now he is out for a lower leg injury. someone has to do some pretty interesting anatomical gymnastics to say these 2 injuries are related. sometimes bad luck is actually very simply BAD LUCK!
It is my opinion that it should've been Bradley Hanner that was DFA, and not Oswaldo. Overall, to me Oswaldo was more valuable to the Yankees. Last night Hanner finally had an outing like he had before he was put in the 40.
As for Judge, his is just yet another example of why I want to really know who ultimately makes the decisions of who hits the IL, when they are activated, and what these guys are allowed to play through. All I know is that it's not Dr. Christopher Ahmed, or any other doctor, or Stevie Donahue, or the Head Athletic Trainer. That person must be fired.
The situation with Judge is a classic case of heart over mind. He complained loudly and publicly after the first game when pulled after 6 innings. The greater the player the more he will push to play. So, they acquiesced to him. Everyone was so glad to see him finally back on the field. But their plan was good. Sometimes cooler heads need to apply the brakes.