May 31, 2026

Yankees Drop 13 Runs In One Wild Inning, Survive Athletics Pushback In 13-8 Win

Yankees

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The Yankees had one inning where everything worked, and somehow still made you sweat a little.

The Yankees beat the Athletics 13-8 on Sunday in West Sacramento, and the final score tells you two things at the same time. One, the Yankees offense absolutely detonated in the 3rd inning. Two, this team still found a way to make a 13-run inning feel like it needed a little supervision.

That is the Yankees experience sometimes. You get history, chaos, fireworks, and then a bullpen inning where everybody watching starts sitting up a little straighter.

The 3rd Inning Was The Whole Game

The Yankees were down 3-0 after the 1st inning, mostly because of a messy defensive start. Will Warren allowed traffic, Trent Grisham had a center-field error, and Oakland jumped on the board early. Not ideal. Not clean. Not the way you want to open a game when you are trying to finish a road trip strong.

Then the 3rd inning happened.

And honestly, there is no cute way to describe it. The Yankees turned the inning into batting practice with consequences.

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Anthony Volpe started it with a single. Max Schuemann walked. Austin Wells walked. Paul Goldschmidt knocked in a run. Ben Rice doubled home two. Aaron Judge singled. Cody Bellinger singled. Jose Caballero walked in another run. Grisham, after the earlier mistake, came back with a two-run single. Volpe singled again. Schuemann doubled in two. Wells walked again. Rice came back up and tripled in two more. Bellinger added another RBI single.


That was 13 runs. 11 hits. 18 batters. 75 pitches. A 43-minute half-inning. Just ridiculous.

That was not just a rally. That was the Yankees taking the game, flipping the table, and making the Athletics pick up the pieces.

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Ben Rice Was Right In The Middle Of It

Ben Rice continues to be one of the biggest stories on this roster because every time you think the league might be adjusting, he puts together another game that reminds you why his bat matters so much.

Rice went 2-for-5 with 2 runs, 4 RBI, a double, and a triple. Both extra-base hits came in that monster 3rd inning. That is damage. That is not empty production. That is impact hitting when the inning is begging somebody to break it open.

His season line after this one? .306 average, .397 on-base percentage, .658 slugging, and a 1.056 OPS. Listen, those are not “nice little start” numbers anymore. Those are middle-of-the-order, change-the-lineup numbers.

The Yankees need that. Especially when this offense can still go quiet for long stretches. After the 13-run 3rd, they did not score again. That part cannot be ignored.

Will Warren Settled Down And Did His Job

Will Warren’s final line looks strange because he gave up 3 runs, but none of them were earned. He went 6 innings, allowed 6 hits, walked 3, struck out 5, and threw 82 pitches.

After the ugly 1st inning, Warren gave the Yankees exactly what they needed: calm.

He did not let the game get weird early. He did not start nibbling himself into trouble. He got through the next 5 innings without allowing another run, and that matters. When your offense hands you a 13-3 lead, the job is simple. Throw strikes. Move the game forward. Do not turn it into a circus.

Warren did that.

He improved to 7-1 with a 3.22 ERA, and at this point, you have to respect what he has given this rotation. It has not always been perfect, but it has been valuable.

The Bullpen Made It Annoying

Now, here is where the Yankees gave you the part you did not ask for.

Tim Hill came in for the 7th and Oakland immediately made noise. Brent Rooker homered. Nick Kurtz walked. Henry Bolte got hit by a pitch. Jonah Heim then launched a three-run homer, and suddenly that 13-3 game became 13-7.

No, the Yankees were not in full panic mode. But come on. A 10-run lead should feel like a couch game. That inning made it feel like somebody left the door cracked open.

Fernando Cruz allowed another run in the 8th on a Kurtz double. David Bednar handled the 9th, working around a walk and a single to close it out scoreless.

So the Yankees won. They finished the road trip 5-1. They are now 36-23. That is the big picture.

But the clean version of this game ended after the 3rd inning. The rest of it was the reminder that even when the Yankees do something historic, they still have areas that need tightening.

Bottom Line

The Yankees beat the Athletics because they had one of the loudest innings this franchise has had in years. The 13-run 3rd was their biggest inning since 2005 and one run short of the franchise record. That is not normal. That is a lineup eruption.

Rice was excellent. Volpe was involved. Bellinger kept swinging it. Grisham made up for the error. Warren stabilized the game.

But the bullpen? Yeah. That conversation is not going away.

Still, you take the win. You take the 5-1 trip. You take the offensive explosion. The Yankees head home with momentum, and now Cam Schlittler gets the ball Tuesday against Cleveland.

That is a good place to be.

But please, next time you score 13 in one inning, just let everybody relax for once.

Felix Pantaleón Avatar

Felix Pantaleón

Founder

Born in Manhattan, New York, Felix Pantaleon is a Dominican-American digital content creator and the founder of NYYNEWS, one of the first and longest-running independent New York Yankees content creator platforms, active since 2005.

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