First Juan Soto drilled a ball off the top of his right foot. Then he drilled one well beyond the right field fence.
Such was the sequence on Wednesday night against the Royals, as the Yankees’ superstar found himself in serious pain after a foul ball connected with his foot in the sixth inning. However, the right fielder insisted on staying in the game after a lengthy visit from Aaron Boone and the Yankees’ training staff.
Two pitches later, Soto recorded his 39th homer of the season, a two-run shot off Cole Ragans that gave the Bombers a 2-1 lead. As Soto made his way to first, he let out a roar and a quick grimace before continuing his trot around the bases.
No. 39 for Juan Soto! pic.twitter.com/W0ijsEMz5d
— MLB (@MLB) September 12, 2024
The blast proved pivotal in the Yankees’ 4-3, 11-inning, series-winning victory, though they had to retake the lead after Clay Holmes permitted two singles and a game-tying sacrifice fly to Salvador Perez in the seventh. Holmes, no longer the Yankees’ defined closer after previously blowing 11 saves, was promptly booed as Kansas City knotted things up.
The Royals then took the lead in the 10th when Jake Cousins fired a wild pitch with Dairon Blanco on third. Blanco had previously swiped the base.
While Yankees fans weren’t happy with the two relievers — or a seventh-inning double play that saw Anthony Volpe gunned down at home plate — their team tied things in the 10th when Austin Wells pinch-hit for Jose Trevino and produced a game-tying sacrifice fly.
With the Royals unable to score in the 11th, Jazz Chisholm Jr. then played the part of hero when he hit a walk-off infield single in the bottom of the inning. It secured the win and put the Yankees 1.5 games ahead of the Orioles in the American League East standings.
Earlier in the night, Luis Gil allowed one earned run — a fourth-inning homer to Michael Massey — over five innings.
The righty wasn’t particularly efficient in his second start back from the injured list, as he threw 97 pitches while totaling five hits, two walks and five strikeouts. But Wednesday marked Gil’s 16th start of the season in which he allowed no more than one run.
No MLB pitcher has had more starts of that kind this season, according to New York Yankees Stats. Gil also tied Russ Ford’s 1910 campaign for the most such starts by a Yankee rookie in one season.
Ragans, meanwhile, totaled two earned runs, three hits, three walks and seven strikeouts over six innings.
With the Yankees having won a potential playoff preview series in the Bronx, the team is now 84-62. Next on the docket is a four-game set with the third-place Red Sox.
Nestor Cortes will make his return to the rotation in the first game of the series on Thursday, though it remains to be seen how long he will remain a starter. The Yankees are using a six-man rotation for this turn through, but they will likely revert back to five starters following Monday’s off day.
Clarke Schmidt, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón will start the rest of the series for the Yankees.
Cooper Criswell is scheduled to start the opener for Boston, which had not announced a Friday starter at the time of publication. Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford are scheduled to start the last two games of the series.