[jksander]

July 1, 2026: Dylan Cease (4-4, 3.18 ERA, 90.2 IP, 102 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) pitched against the Yankees’ Brandon Woodruff (7-3, 3.77 ERA, 88.1 IP, 89 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) in game two of our series, and again New York got on the board first -- this time it was a solo homer for Nathaniel Lowe in the top of the second that did it. But we answered quickly, with Yordys Valdes hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the inning, just his sixth long-ball of the season! The Yankees left the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, and Cease kept them guessing into the seventh, but we replaced him with Jonathan Cannon with one out and Oswald Peraza on first, still leading by a pair. Peraza scored on two outs with an RBI single by Jazz Chisholm Jr, but we got Anthony Volpe out on strikes to get into the stretch still leading 3-2. Jose Alvarado took over in the eighth, and he got two outs but let them load the bases ... and a single by Peraza drove in two to put New York ahead 4-3 heading into the bottom of the inning. We squared it up with a solo homer for Kjerstad to start the frame, and with two outs Gary Sanchez got us back into the lead with an RBI single into center! Helsley took over with no outs and Chisholm Jr on second in the top of the ninth, and with two outs Jasson Dominguez batted him home with a double, tying the score again, now at 5-5. Ha-seong Kim took a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth, but we couldn’t advance him, so this one headed for extra innings. Eduard Bazardo took the mound in the top of the 10th, and he pitched brilliantly to keep the pinch-runner from scoring. We came out in the bottom of the inning with Bellinger on second, and he took third on a hit-and-run, and an E2 throwing error allowed him to round that base and slide safely into home ... walkoff steal on a swinging strike, we win 6-5! That’s one folk’ll be talking about for a while! Bazardo took the win, improving to 4-0 with a 2.82 ERA, but Cease had laid a good groundwork ... 6.1 innings with six hits, a walk, six strikeouts and just two earned runs. Alvarado and Helsley each had blown saves, but we got the win and that’s what matters. We matched them on hits with nine each, led by Yordys Valdes who had two hits, a run and three RBIs, while Kjerstad added two hits, a walk, a run and an RBI and Bellinger scored twice off a pair of hits.

July 2, 2026: Zac Gallen (9-1, 2.82 ERA, 99.0 IP, 84 K’s, 1.07 WHIP) pitched against Shane McClanahan (8-4, 2.74 ERA, 101.2 IP, 111 K’s, 0.94 WHIP) in the last game of our Yankees series, and for the third day in a row we let the Yankees score first, this time off an RBI double by Jasson Dominguez in the top of the first. He came around to score off a single by Nathaniel Lowe, and a triple by Trent Grisham batted in their third run ... all coming on two outs. So we came up to hit for the first time trailing already 3-0, putting Gallen’s perfect streak since joining our team quickly on the line. The Yankees added on a run in the fifth when Anthony Volpe hit an RBI double, and though we got on the board with a solo homer from Gary Sanchez in the bottom of the inning Gallen’s night was over. Noah Syndergaard took over in the top of the sixth trailing 4-1, and we got back in the game in the bottom of the eighth, a single by Heston Kjerstad batting in two runs to get us within one! Syndergaard got us through the top of the ninth with a chance, but we couldn’t get anyone on base in the bottom of the inning, losing this one 4-3. Gallen took the loss, allowing eight hits with four earned runs and three strikeouts, but it was Syndergaard who really shined tonight ... FOUR innings, with just a walk and two strikeouts, throwing 47 pitches in a dominating bullpen performance. He now has a 5.71 ERA through 41 innings over 24 appearances. We outhit them 9-8, led by Gary Sanchez who had two hits, two runs and an RBI.

Kansas City is now on a five-game winning streak after sweeping Houston, and they have a 43-39 record, overtaking Cleveland by half a game in the divisional race. They now are just four games behind us, as the division tightens up. The 37-45 Brewers are coming in to play us for three games here at Rate Field, and we could really use a good winning streak right about now after losing two series in a row.