ST. LOUIS — When a team goes through rough patches over a long season, it can often be useful to get back to basics and play the style of baseball that helped define the team at its essence.
They’re known as the Bronx Bombers for a reason, after all.
“On a night like tonight, and any night when we’ve got guys who are down that we normally have in a lineup, it just speaks to how deep we are,” Rice said.
“We’ve got so many guys up and down the lineup who are everyday guys or not that can contribute in different ways. We’ve got a really good lineup.”
The win was almost as impressive for what it did not feature as for what it did; Cody Bellinger (illness), Paul Goldschmidt (knee sprain) and Giancarlo Stanton (lower body soreness) each spent the night on the bench, leaving former Most Valuable Players missing all over the field.
The remaining bats did not miss a beat.
“It was a great night for us,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Especially when you’re going against Sonny Gray, that’s a tough draw … great night offensively, pretty much everything you could expect.”
“They can do this any night,” said Max Fried, the Yankees’ grateful starter on the night. “It’s a deep lineup. Even the bottom of the order creates havoc.
“We’re definitely multi-dimensional, especially on the offensive side. They’re able to cover up mistakes, especially on my end tonight. They were able to really pick me up.”
A matchup between Fried and St. Louis’ Gray might have been fairly billed as a battle of the aces, but it was the offense for both sides which supplied the soundtrack to a muggy, drawn-out night.
Fried battled through five-plus innings and allowed two homers of his own, totaling seven runs surrendered (all earned) on eight hits.
“It’s been going the same way for me for a little bit now,” said Fried, who was 1-3 with a 6.12 ERA in his five most recent starts leading into Saturday’s tough line.
“Felt like I got behind some guys and was able to make some pitches, but that’s kind of been my career,” he added. “I’ve been able to, even if I’m behind the count, still find a way to be able to get a ground ball, get some weak contact, get some outs. It’s frustrating in this stretch that I haven’t been able to do that. It’s putting us in holes, so I definitely have to change something.”
Grisham also supplied the fourth four-hit game of his career, and his second this season. José Caballero continued his weekend of strong contributions in right field, filling in for the ailing Cody Bellinger and sore Giancarlo Stanton. His three-run game was the fourth of his career and first as a Yankee.
“Talk about quality at-bats and controlling the zone, that’s what ‘Grish’ does,” Boone said. “He was obviously great tonight. On base five times, puts everyone in a good spot. Puts Benny and the rest of the middle of the order in a good spot, because you’re seeing a lot of pitches, you’re on base, you’re creating problems.”
Ryan McMahon slugged his Yankees first homer since being acquired from Colorado at the Trade Deadline. Rice and Aaron Judge recorded the other two home runs for New York.
The 399-foot third-inning blast was the first of Judge’s career against the Cardinals, who were previously the only team (other than the Yankees) against whom he had not homered.
For the second consecutive night, a win in St. Louis paired with a loss for the Guardians allowed the Yankees to build an even bigger cushion in the AL Wild Card picture. While general manager Brian Cashman said Friday that he expected the race to remain a “dogfight” throughout the season, those sorts of fights are more fairly fought when a team is at full strength.
Even without three players who might otherwise be the core of any lineup in which they appear, and even behind a rough outing from one of their most accomplished starters, the parade of Yankees hitters rounding the bases was an undeniable sign that they’re prepared to find themselves slugging back into real contention.
“Just a ton of tough, gritty at-bats,” Boone said. “A lot of damage mixed in. Just a really good night for us.”
