June 9, 2026

Yankees Win Another Tight One In Cleveland

Yankees

Yankees Win Another Tight One In Cleveland

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Jazz Chisholm Jr. delivered the late swing, Spencer Jones gave Yankees fans a moment to remember, and the bullpen turned a tight game in Cleveland into a 3-2 Yankees win.

The Yankees did not exactly run away with this one, but sometimes a road win is not supposed to be pretty. Sometimes you just need the big swing, the bullpen to hold it down, and somebody to close the door when the game starts getting uncomfortable.

That was the story Tuesday night at Progressive Field, where the Yankees beat the Guardians 3-2 and moved to 40-26 on the season.

It started with Spencer Jones giving the Yankees an early punch, and it ended with Fernando Cruz striking out the side after walking the leadoff man in the ninth. In between, Jazz Chisholm Jr. gave them the swing that changed the game.

Spencer Jones Gets His First Big League Homer

The second inning belonged to Jones.

Jazz worked a leadoff walk, and Jones did not waste the chance. Slade Cecconi left a cutter in a spot where you simply cannot leave it, and Jones crushed it to center field for his first major league home run.

Not a wall scraper. Not a cheap one. A real one.

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That gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead and gave Jones the kind of moment every young player dreams about when he is grinding through the minors. First big league homer, on the road, in a game the Yankees ended up needing every run from.

Jones finished with two hits and two RBI, and that is the kind of night that can settle a young player down a little bit. The Yankees need production from the bottom half of this lineup, and Jones gave them exactly that.

Gerrit Cole Had To Battle

Gerrit Cole was not dominant, but he battled through four innings and kept the Yankees in the game.

Cleveland finally got to him in the third. José Ramírez singled, stole second, and Chase DeLauter brought him home with a base hit. Kyle Manzardo walked, Rhys Hoskins was hit by a pitch, and Angel Martínez tied the game with an infield single.

That inning had the feel of one of those annoying Cleveland innings. Not a bunch of loud damage. Just traffic, pressure, contact, and suddenly the game is tied.

Cole finished with two runs allowed on five hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. It was not his cleanest outing, but he left with the game still right there.

Jazz Chisholm Delivers The Swing

The game stayed tied until the eighth, and that is when Jazz stepped in.

Leading off the inning against Tim Herrin, Chisholm worked the count and then got a slider he could handle. He sent it out to right field for his ninth homer of the season, and just like that, the Yankees had the lead back.

That was the swing of the night.

Jazz has been heating up lately, and when he is giving the Yankees power from that spot in the order, the lineup starts looking a lot less easy to navigate. He scored two of the Yankees’ three runs and gave them the late shot they needed.

The Bullpen Deserves Credit

The Yankees bullpen deserves a lot of credit here.

Paul Blackburn, Tim Hill, Camilo Doval, Jacob Bird, and Fernando Cruz combined to keep Cleveland scoreless after Cole left. It was not always calm, but it worked.

Doval got through the seventh with help from a double play. Bird got into some trouble in the eighth, but Cruz came in and struck out Travis Bazzana before getting Ramírez to line out to center.

Then came the ninth.

Cruz walked DeLauter to start the inning, which is not exactly how you want to protect a one-run lead on the road. But after that, he locked in. Manzardo struck out. Hoskins struck out. Martínez struck out.

That is how you finish a game.

Yankees Keep Stacking Wins

This was not a perfect Yankees win. They left runners on base, Ben Rice went hitless, and the offense had chances to open the game up earlier.

But good teams win games like this.

Jones gave them the early blast. Jazz gave them the late blast. The bullpen gave them five scoreless innings. Cruz gave them the final punch.

That is three straight wins for the Yankees, and at 40-26, they continue to stack games in the right direction.

Not every win has to be loud.

This one was tight, a little messy, and exactly the kind of game you take and move on from with a smile.

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Felix Pantaleón

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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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