Jose Caballero will handle third base for the Yankees on Thursday night in Baltimore, with Ryan McMahon taking a seat after leaving Wednesday’s win with a thumb issue.
McMahon delivered a second-inning, game-tying single in the Yankees’ 5-3 victory, then jammed his left thumb on a slide at second base and had X-rays before being replaced by Caballero as a pinch-hitter. The Yankees did not put McMahon in the lineup for the series finale at Camden Yards.
The club is also riding strong work from Gerrit Cole, who has been sharp over his last four starts. In that stretch, the right-hander has a 1.46 ERA across 25 innings, hasn’t allowed a home run, and the Yankees have won three of those four outings. Cole, now 6-6 with a 3.22 ERA, gets the ball Thursday night opposite Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish, who is 7-11 with a 3.65 ERA.
New York is going for a three-game sweep in the 6:35 p.m. game.
Bradish faced the Yankees on May 2 and gave up five runs in four innings in a 9-4 New York win at the Stadium. Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham homered in that game. Bradish is coming off a six-inning no-decision at Tampa Bay in which he allowed two runs on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts.
The Yankees also announced that Bellinger, who has a strained left hamstring, will begin a minor league rehab assignment Thursday night at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Thursday’s lineup has Trent Grisham leading off in center field, followed by Ben Rice as the DH, Heliot Ramos in left, Luis Garcia Jr. at first base, Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second, George Lombard Jr. at shortstop, Spencer Jones in right, Austin Wells behind the plate and Caballero at third. Ben Rice is 4-for-10 against Bradish with a home run.
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What makes the commitment stand out is the size of it and the timing. A promise this substantial would represent a major slice of the clubs recent international signing pool, a sign that New York is willing to keep pushing resources toward the next wave of talent while the rules around international signings could still shift in the future. [Read more 🡒]