Acce s the Yankees beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees. CLEVELAND No current Yankees were alive Zakhar Bardakov Jersey the last time the Guardians swept them in Cleveland. They made sure it stayed that way Wednesday. Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt continued to be red-hot at the plate while Carlos Rodn turned in another dominant outing to combine for a 5-1 win over the Guardians at a sun-splashed Progre sive Field. In the proce s, the Yankees (15-10) avoided what would have been their first sweep of three games or more in Cleveland since 1970. They ended a 13-day, 13-game stretch going 8-5 into Thursdays off-day before returning to The Bronx on Friday against the Blue Jays. Judge and Goldschmidt were two of five Yankees to reach base three times on the day, maintaining their spots atop the majors in batting average. Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge slides into third base after hitting an RBI triple during the first inning against the Guardians on April 23, 2025. AP Explore More Judge, a day after going 4-for-4, went 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk and is batting .415 with a 1.247 OPS. Ja son Domnguez, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger of the New York Yankees celebrate the teams 5-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Progre sive Field on April 23, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. Getty Images Before walking in the fourth, he had recorded a hit in six straight plate appearances. Right now, hes like Tony Gwynn, Rodn said. Next week, hell probably be like Hank Aaron. This week, we saw a little bit of speed and the hit-ability of Judge. So Im excited to see what happens on Friday. Im just surprised when he gets out. CHECK OUT THE AND Goldschmidt, meanwhile, was 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, upping his average to .383 with a .922 OPS. Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ja son Domnguez also reached base three times apiece to fuel an offense that was one big hit away from breaking the game open, only to strand 13. Yankees starter Carlos Rodon pitches against the Guardians on April 23, 2025. Getty Images But Rodn made sure it did not ultimately matter by throwing seven strong innings in which he allowed just one unearned run. The left-hander, coming off six shutout innings against the Rays last Friday, scattered just four hits and two walks while striking out eight against the Guardians (14-10). He retired 14 of the final 15 batters he faced. It builds confidence, Rodn said. I felt like I was right there [earlier in the season]. I just want to keep going, keep winning games and going as deep as I can. Just trying to keep growing and become a better pitcher throughout the season. New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) celebrates after scoring during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progre sive Field. Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Fernando Cruz shut down the top of the Guardians order in the top of the eighth before Luke Weaver (with Devin Williams warming) closed it out in the ninth. Weaver, who has not allowed a run in 13 innings this season, flirted with danger by getting three fly balls to the warning track, but they all landed in gloves, including a running, over-the-shoulder catch by Cody Bellinger to end it. After going down quietly late in Tuesdays 3-2 lo s, the Yankees came out of the gates strong thanks to the top of their lineup. Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hits an RBI single against the Guardians on April 23, 2025. Getty Images Rice, Judge and Goldschmidt have been their three most consistent hitters (along with Trent Grisham, who mi sed the series while on the paternity list), and they delivered yet again on Wednesday. Judge came within a few feet of his eighth home run of the season, crushing a ball to the deepest part of the ballpark and settling for his first triple that scored Rice for the 1-0 lead in the first inning. Hitting it where theyre not, making contact, Judge said of his red-hot April, which is much different than the quiet start he had last year before turning it on for his second AL MVP. Its baseball, youre going to have that. You guys will be talking to me in June or we have a tough month, Im going to tell you the same thing. Its just about trying to keep everything simple. Not trying to do too much. After Bellinger walked, Goldschmidt also just mi sed a home run, instead taking an RBI double to make it 2-0. New York Yankees Ben Rice runs home to score on an Aaron Judge triple. AP In the second, after the Guardians scored their only run of the game, it was Rice and Goldschmidt delivering RBI singles for the 4-1 lead. More excellence, manager Aaron Boone said of Rice, Judge and Goldschmidt. Those three guys are playing so well, swinging the bat and just giving quality at-bat after quality at-bat. We probably had a chance to really blow this one open a lot of times today and couldnt get that big hit to really put it away, but a lot of good at-bats to give us those opportunities. Joe Sakic Jersey

Former All-Star infielder has pa sed away, per an announcement from the Puerto Rican Profe sional Baseball League. He was 81 years old and would have turned 82 this coming weekend. The father of big leaguers and , Sandy Sr. enjoyed a 15-year playing career of his own. From 1964-78, he suited up for the Angels, Yankees, White Sox, Braves, Rangers and Mets. Ken Dryden Jersey The elder Alomar made the 1970 All-Star team as a member of the Angels during a season in which he batted .251/.302/.293 and played in all 162 games while providing quality defense and 35 stolen bases. In all, Alomar hit .245/.290/.288 in 5160 major league plate appearances acro s his decade and a half as a big league player. He played primarily second base but also logged more than 1200 innings at shortstop and made a handful of appearances at the hot corner. Alomar was known for his glove and speed more than his bat; he totaled just 13 career home runs, 126 doubles and 19 triples but piled up 227 career stolen bases. Hes one of just 300 players to ever steal at least 225 bags in his career. Beyond his career as a player, Alomar logged parts of 16 season as a coach in the major leagues, spending time with the Padres (third base coach), Cubs (first base coach), Rockies (third base coach) and Mets (bench coach, first base coach). He also managed in the minor league ranks for both the Cubs and the Mets and spent several seasons coaching and managing teams at home in the Puerto Rican Winter League. Our condolences go out to each of the organizations Alomar impacted, as well as the Alomar family and friends, and the countle s fans he accrued over a baseball career that spanned more than 50 years. Guy Carbonneau Jersey

Giants chairman Greg Johnson has gone on record a few times to expre s his support for the clubs baseball operations leadership. He reiterated that sentiment this evening, telling that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler will both be (in San Francisco) next year. It has been a streaky season for the Giants, who remain right on the edge of contention with two and a half weeks to go. San Francisco sits at 75-71, percentage points above the Diamondbacks and Reds for the last Wild Card spot in the National League. The Giants had gotten as high as 13 games above .500 shortly after the All-Star Break but are just 26-30 in the second half overall. That knocked them out of the playoff picture for a bit, though a recent 5-1 stretch coinciding with cold spells for a few teams above them has put the Giants Brock Nelson Jersey back in a solid spot. Theyre looking for what would be the second playoff appearance of the Zaidi/Kapler era. Zaidi has been running baseball operations since the 2018-19 offseason; Kapler took over as skipper one year later. They stepped into a transitional period before a shocking 107-win campaign to snap the Dodgers streak of NL West titles with one of the best years in franchise history. L.A. vanquished the Giants in the Division Series, and San Francisco has been an average team since that point. They were exactly .500 last year and arent far above that mark this season. San Francisco tried for an impact acquisition last offseason. Their pursuit of came up short, while the physical led that agreement to fall through. The Correa saga came after most of the other top free agents were off the board, leading San Francisco to pivot to the volume approach that has defined most of their past few winters. Signings of , , and have all yielded middling results in their first seasons, though the addition of has mostly worked as anticipated. The leaderships track record goes well beyond this past offseason, of course. Prior acquisitions of , and have all been strong low-cost additions. has provided four years of quality production since signing in free agency headed into 2020. Theyve felt the effects of mi sing out on a star position player particularly as the offense has gone cold in the second half though the lack of long-term payroll commitments could embolden them to make legitimate runs at or this offseason. Both Zaidi and Kapler are believed to be under contract for next year. Kapler signed an extension running through the 24 campaign following their standout 2021 season (in which he was named NL Manager of the Year). Zaidis contract was a five-year guarantee that spanned through this year, though it also included a team option for the 24 season. Slu ser characterizes that provision more as a team opt-out clause which the organization bypa sed when it was available to them a few months ago. Regardle s of the specifics, its clear both Zaidi and Kapler will return though theyd each enter the season in lame duck status unle s they sign longer-term extensions over the winter. Marcus Hogberg Jersey

Brewers star closer has been diagnosed with two stre s fractures in his back, reports Jeff Pa san of ESPN ( ). Hell be shut down entirely for six weeks and is expected to be out of MLB action for around three months. Its a ma sive hit to the Milwaukee bullpen two weeks before Opening Day. Williams made two appearances this spring before pausing his work as he battled back sorene s. He visited a spine specialist this afternoon. That examination revealed the fractures. Fortunately, Pa san indicates that Williams is expected to make a full recovery. That the injury shouldnt affect Williams throughout his career is a positive, but theres no question its a significant lo s for the first half of the upcoming season. The two-time All-Star is among the best relievers in baseball. He has turned in a sub-2.00 ERA in consecutive years, including a sparkling 1.53 mark over 58 2/3 frames last season. Williams shut down 36 games in 40 attempts in his first full campaign as a closer. He rode his patented wiffle ball changeup, the so-called Airbender, to a ma sive 37.7% strikeout percentage. Williams was Ville Husso Jersey named the National Leagues Reliever of the Year for the second time in his career. As is the case with virtually every Milwaukee player approaching free agency, Williams found himself in trade rumors during the offseason. That speculation returned after they dealt to the Orioles, but Milwaukee didnt find a deal to their liking. They elected to keep him at the back of the bullpen instead. Williams should eventually return to the ninth inning, but hell now begin the season on the 60-day injured list and will be out of action at least into the middle of June. Its unclear if Milwaukee skipper Pat Murphy will go with a committee approach to the ninth inning or pick a defined closer while Williams is on the shelf. If they go the latter route, any of , or could be candidates. Payamps was somewhat quietly one of the more productive relievers in the NL last season. The secondary piece acquired in the / three-team trade, Payamps turned in a 2.55 ERA with plus strikeout, walk and ground-ball numbers acro s 70 1/3 innings. Uribe has more traditional closing stuff. One of the hardest throwers in the sport, he averaged a blistering 99.4 MPH on his sinker as a rookie. Uribe turned in a 1.76 ERA behind a 53% grounder percentage and a 30.7% strikeout rate over his first 30 2/3 MLB innings. Its eye-popping stuff, but his command could keep him out of the ninth inning. Uribe walked more than 15% of opponents last season. Megill, acquired in a minor trade with the Twins last April, struck out nearly 36% of batters faced as a Brewer. He worked to a 3.31 ERA through 32 2/3 frames. Megill averaged 99.1 MPH on his heater, which he paired with a wipeout curveball in the mid-80s. Having that trio of power arms means Murphy should still have a good relief group with which to work, yet theres no one who can be expected to replicate the production that Williams posts on an annual basis. Milwaukee controls Williams via arbitration through the 2025 season. Hes making $7MM this season. Milwaukee has a $10MM option for next year but could retain him in arbitration even if they opt for a $250K buyout instead of the option value. If Williams progre ses as expected, he should be back on the mound before the deadline. Theres a chance hed be a midseason trade candidate if the Brewers unexpectedly fall out of contention in the NL Central, but the offers they receive could be complicated by other teams trepidation about the injury. Keith Primeau Jersey

The Padres placed starter on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 4, with a biceps strain. San Diego recalled reliever to provide an extra bullpen arm for tonights game in Colorado. It might be a one- Gleb Trikozov Jersey day MLB stint. Righty joined the team at Coors Field and told reporters (including ) that hell be recalled to start Saturdays game. It continues a rough season for Cortes, whom the Friars acquired from the Brewers at the trade deadline. The leftys Milwaukee tenure consisted of two starts and eight runs allowed in as many innings. He then suffered a flexor strain that cost him four months. By the time he was ready to return right around the deadline, the Brewers had six or seven better starting pitchers. They traded Cortes to San Diego, who activated him from the IL on August 3. Things havent gone well through six starts. Cortes carries a 5.47 earned run average through 26 1/3 innings. His strikeout, walk and home run rates are all poor. Cortes has managed one strong start, to sing six scorele s innings to beat the Dodgers on August 23. Thats the only time hes completed six frames with the Padres. He had his worst outing on Wednesday, giving up four homers and six runs without escaping the third inning against Baltimore. San Diego acquired Cortes and at the deadline in an effort to stabilize the back of the rotation. That became increasingly important when they packaged and to Kansas City for catcher . Neither addition has worked out so far, as Sears has given up nine earned runs in 14 2/3 frames over his first three starts. The Padres quickly optioned Sears to Triple-A. He apparently has fallen behind Vsquez on the depth chart, as the Friars elected to call up the righty. Sears is scheduled to start tonight in the minors, which would indicate hes not in the mix to start on Tuesday in what would have been Cortes rotation spot. (San Diego relied on a bullpen game the last time they would have needed a fifth starter.) They may be targeting that day for to return from the injured list. Manager Mike Shildt told that King threw five innings in a scrimmage at the teams Arizona complex yesterday. Shildt did not commit to a date for the rightys reinstatement. Daniel Altshuller Jersey