The Yankees are heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale with the bigger picture already in mind. The roster is being mapped out, the Red Sox are waiting in next week’s wild-card series, and New York still has one last regular-season goal to chase: win No. 94.
That final game against the Orioles has been pushed up to 1:05 p.m. because of weather concerns, and the Yankees are coming off a strange Friday that turned into a single-admission doubleheader after a nor’easter forced the schedule around. New York was off Saturday, and the last few days have been all about balance - resting regulars, giving prominent relievers a breather and trying out different defensive looks now that the Yankees have been out of the American League East race since Tuesday night.
Friday brought the full range of late-season baseball chaos. The Yankees dropped the opener 10-2, then bounced back for a 6-3 win to split their fifth doubleheader of the year before the tarp came down right after the last out.
Anthony Volpe was one of the more interesting pieces in that split. He played third base in the first game and shortstop in the second, continuing a stretch of versatility that could matter when the postseason roster gets finalized.
Since coming back from the minors on Sept. 10, Volpe is hitting .265 with nine RBIs in 14 games, and he came through Friday night with a two-run double in the sixth inning as part of a three-hit day.
"This is the most important part of the season," Volpe said. "This is the best part of why you do it; this is why you play. It's Yankees/Red Sox -- that's what October baseball is."
Ben Rice also stayed hot, collecting three hits in the doubleheader and carrying a big season line into Sunday: 41 homers and 97 RBIs. That production has taken on extra weight with Aaron Judge having played only 66 games and possibly missing the wild-card series because of a moderately strained right calf.
Baltimore, meanwhile, is finishing up a second straight losing season after a run in which it won 275 games from 2022-2024. Pete Alonso has been the bright spot in that lineup. In his first season with the Orioles, he enters the finale with 43 home runs and 113 RBIs, and he has already locked up the AL RBI title while sitting one ahead of Yordan Alvarez and Junior Caminero in the AL home run race.
Alonso is also on track to play in his 162nd game for the third year in a row. He has been especially dangerous lately, with eight of his last 10 hits leaving the yard. His 43 homers are the most by an Oriole since Mark Trumbo hit 47 in 2016.
"It's impressive," manager Craig Albernaz said. "It's not only the at-bat quality and the pitches he's getting, he's not missing them. He's squaring them up pretty good."
If the weather cooperates and the game is played, the Yankees will see Elmer Rodriguez again. The right-hander is 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA, has made six starts and owns 21 strikeouts against 16 walks in 26 2/3 innings.
His most recent big league outing came Aug. 31, when he labored through 3 2/3 innings in a 10-1 road loss to the Angels. He also flashed better velocity on Aug. 26 in New York’s 9-3 win over Houston, when he allowed three runs on three hits over six innings in a no-decision.
Baltimore will counter with Shane Baz, who is 6-15 with a 4.11 ERA and is expected to work a shortened outing, much like Trevor Rogers did Friday when he threw 55 pitches over four innings. Baz is 2-6 with a 4.37 ERA in his last 10 starts and took a no-decision Monday against Toronto, when the Orioles rallied in the eighth inning.
In Other News...
Red Sox Fans Are Fuming Over A New Yankees Playoff Controversy
Severe weather forced MLB into a messy weekend of scheduling around the Yankees and Red Sox, with Friday doubleheaders on the board and the possibility that Boston would have to finish its business in Tampa, under a dome, if playoff seeding still mattered. It was the kind of late-season juggling act that can make a simple rainout feel bigger than a single game, especially when every result has October implications attached to it.
Boston ended up taking the trip to Tampa, while the Yankees saw their Sunday game postponed and not made up, which quickly set off a wave of criticism from Red Sox fans who viewed the outcome as a built-in break for New York. MLB was left trying to manage a chaotic weather situation as fairly as possible, but the optics were rough enough that the league's handling of the schedule became almost as much of a storyline as the games themselves. [Read more 🡒]
Ben Rice Is Forcing A Yankees Debate Fans Didnt Expect
Ben Rice has turned what looked like a temporary fill-in role into one of the more interesting developments of the Yankees season. With 41 home runs, the 27-or-younger club he now sits in is the kind of company that makes you stop and look twice, since the list includes Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Roger Maris, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Rice has done most of his damage as a designated hitter and first baseman, and he has been a major reason the Yankees have kept the offense moving with Judge out.
Even with that kind of production, Rice is still sitting fifth in MLB.coms MVP voting, behind Yordan lvarez, Junior Caminero, Bobby Witt Jr. and Cam Schlittler. That gap says a lot about how crowded the conversation is, but it also underscores the odd little debate Rice has created in New York: whether a player filling in at DH and first base can force his way into a much bigger role in the Yankees future. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees New Celebration Has Fans Thinking Of Oswaldo Cabrera
Oswaldo Cabreras departure from the Yankees was supposed to close the book on one of the teams more recognizable personalities, but the celebration he made his own has lingered in the background. After Cabrera was designated for assignment and then claimed by the Reds, Yankees fans quickly noticed Ben Rice and George Lombard Jr. doing a grenade toss celebration during a game, a move that instantly brought Cabrera to mind.
It has not been confirmed as a tribute, and both players have left the meaning of the celebration unspoken. Still, in a clubhouse where little gestures can take on a life of their own, the timing has invited plenty of speculation, especially with Cabrera now wearing another uniform and his old signature seemingly still echoing around the Yankees. [Read more 🡒]