Will Warren didn’t look long for the Yankees’ series-opener against the Athletics on Friday night.
While the rookie right-hander escaped the first inning unscathed, he needed 36 pitches to get through the frame after walking three and striking out three. His pitch count got so high that Allan Winans, previously considered an option to start on Sunday, began warming up in the bullpen before Warren could record three outs.
But Warren punched out ex-Yankee Gio Urshela to leave the bases loaded. He didn’t face much pressure after that, totaling five scoreless innings in a 3-0 win for the Bombers.
“It was big,” Aaron Boone said. “He’s probably two hitters away from being out of the game, but I thought his body language was good. You knew he was frustrated, but he just continued to stay after it.”
Warren, who has permitted just five earned runs in his last four starts, also held the A’s to two hits over 100 pitches. He only walked one more batter after the first inning, and he ended up with seven strikeouts.
Warren said a focus on getting ahead in the count allowed him to settle in after the initial inning.
“Sometimes, I’m good at executing the corners,” the pitcher said. “Tonight, I kind of was spraying the ball a little bit. So it’s like, ‘All right, let’s throw it to the bigger part of the plate and let them put the ball in play.’”
As Warren figured things out, Jazz Chisholm Jr. remained hot at the plate, dropping a tall, solo home run into the second deck in right field in the second inning. The dinger, Chisholm’s 12th of the year, came against former Yankees pitching prospect Mitch Spence, who left a first-pitch cutter middle-in.
“I definitely knew it was gone as soon as I hit it,” Chisholm said. “It felt good. It was exactly what I was looking for.
“All his pitches move towards me, so I’m just looking for something out over the plate to get a hold of.”
Chisholm has been on a tear since returning from an oblique strain earlier this month. He entered Friday’s contest hitting .329 with a .938 OPS, four homers and 13 RBI over his last 20 games before going 1-for-4 against Sacramento.
The third baseman also made an error in the sixth inning, but it didn’t come back to bite the Yankees.
With Chisholm striking first, the Yankees added another run in the third inning when Cody Bellinger followed an intentional walk to Aaron Judge with an RBI single. Bellinger, a former MVP himself, called the A’s decision “understandable,” as Judge is the “best hitter on the planet.”
Chisholm, however, had a different take.
“For me, I feel like that’s really disrespectful to walk someone in front of me,” Chisholm said. “With Cody, especially the career that he’s had, to walk someone in front of him — I know it’s Judge, but still.”
DJ LeMahieu then picked up a ribbie of his own in the fourth when Spence failed to snag a soft comebacker with his bare hand. That run was unearned for Spence after Paul Goldschmidt reached on catcher interference earlier in the inning.
Spence, a Rule 5 loss for the Yankees in 2023, also tallied three hits, four walks and five strikeouts over 89 pitches.
While the Yankees weren’t too explosive on their annual fireworks night, their three runs proved plenty with Tim Hill, Fernando Cruz, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams keeping the A’s off the board.
With their short homestand — the Yankees fly to Toronto on Monday — starting off on the right foot, the pinstripers are now 81 games into their season. They own a 47-34 record and one-game lead over the Rays atop the American League East, but they know there’s room to grow following some recent struggles.
“We put ourselves in a good position,” Boone said. “It hasn’t been perfect. We’ve hit our bumps in the road here these last couple of weeks. But overall, I think we’ve shown that we’re a team to be reckoned with, but with a lot out there to improve on, too.”
With another half a season to play, the Yankees will turn to Clarke Schmidt on Saturday afternoon. The righty is coming off seven no-hit innings against the Orioles and hasn’t allowed a run over his last three starts.
JP Sears, another former Yankee, will start for Sacramento.