Yankees without Juan Soto lose a gripping series opener to the Dodgers in extra innings.
The Yankees and their fan base exhaled Friday afternoon, then spent the night elevating heart rates around the tri-state area for different reasons.
The encouraging news of Juan Soto’s only having forearm inflammation soon gave way to a highly anticipated showdown that had a playoff feel between the Yankees and Dodgers.
The series opener lived up to the hype surrounding it, with a nail-biting scoreless game going to extras before the Dodgers crashed the party in their first visit to Yankee Stadium since 2016.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) greets Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yohan RamÃrez (46) after the final out of the 11th inning.
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Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) greets Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yohan RamÃrez (46) after the final out of the 11th inning.
Teoscar Hernandez finally broke the ice by drilling a two-run double to the gap off Ian Hamilton in the 11th inning, snapping the Yankees’ eight-game winning streak and lifting the Dodgers to a 2-1 win in front of a buzzing sellout crowd of 48,048.
The Yankees (45-20) got one run back in the bottom of the inning when Aaron Judge roped a one-out single to score automatic runner Anthony Volpe from second.
But Dodgers reliever Yohan Ramirez got Giancarlo Stanton to strike out and Anthony Rizzo to pop out to end it.
Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) in the dugout during the fourth inning.
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Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) in the dugout during the fourth inning.
Hamilton had kept the Dodgers (40-25) at bay with a scoreless top of the 10th inning, giving the Yankees a chance to win it in the bottom half.
But Trent Grisham could not get a bunt down to lead off the inning, instead flying out before Dodgers reliever Michael Grove got Jose Trevino and Volpe to pop out, sending the game to the 11th.
The Yankees were playing without Soto in their starting lineup for the first time this season after a Friday afternoon MRI exam revealed forearm inflammation, which manager Aaron Boone described as “good news.”
Boone did not shut the door on Soto’s being available off the bench Friday night, and the slugger did have his batting gloves on with a bat in his hands while standing on the top step of the dugout in the bottom of the seventh and again in the bottom of the ninth.