CLEVELAND – This extra-inning, Monday night Yankees win took a village at Progressive Field, the start of their first road series of 2026 without Aaron Judge.
They’ll travel a lot of road before their captain returns from a stress fracture to his first right rib – an absence that alters the Yanks’ lineup, while their lofty expectations remain the same.
“We all understand in this locker room that it’s going to take everybody. Today was a great example of that,’’ said Cody Bellinger, after delivering the go-ahead hit against the Cleveland Guardians.
“Just a good win and just glad I was able to come through there,’’ Bellinger said of the 10th-inning, two-run single that sent the Yankees toward a 7-5 victory.
Yankees used every available player, except one
In a crazy battle against the AL Central leaders, the Yankees lost two leads before tying it in the eighth on Paul Goldschmidt’s third RBI of the night.
Lifted for pinch-runner Max Schuemann, it was Schuemann’s successful challenge of a called strike – removing his protective guards before the video verdict – that set up Bellinger’s one-out single to left off Shawn Armstrong.
“It actually gave me a lot of comfort when he started doing that,’’ manager Aaron Boone said of Schuemann’s confidence on a 3-1 pitch.
There’s no one else the Yanks could have hoped to see in that spot, other than a healthy Judge himself, than Bellinger.
And he batted after the Yanks’ last player on the bench, in a game where Boone used every reliever except Fernando Cruz.
“Wasn’t pretty. But very gritty,’’ said Boone. “Guys did a lot of winning things.’’
Atop the lineup, Trent Grisham and Ben Rice were on base a combined seven times, with four hits and three walks.
Batting third, the 38-year-old Goldschmidt belted his eighth homer of the year, a two-run shot in the first inning off Gavin Williams.
Winning without the captain
Ryan McMahon’s opposite field, solo homer in the fifth required an umpire’s review, and the Yanks did enough to piece together a win against a club that took two of three from them last week at the Stadium, when Judge was first diagnosed with a rib issue.
“Maybe we have to win more games kind of like this, with a little bit more of a team effort,’’ said Goldschmidt, whose on-field leadership is also critical in this Judge void.
“Probably the best hitter on the planet, he wins games for us by himself at times,’’ Goldschmidt said of Judge, his three-time MVP teammate, resting and receiving treatment in New York.
While the captain is sidelined, “We may have to do some things a little bit different, like tonight. Stuff we’re already trying to do,’’ said Goldschmidt. “But it might take a little bit of that’’ during Judge’s absence.
Crazy game, “huge win”
It took a boatload of relievers, too, and with lefty Tim Hill – who has struggled in recent weeks – getting huge outs vs. Travis Bazzana and the splendid Jose Ramirez, stranding runners at first and second in a 5-5 game in the eighth.
“Crazy game,’’ said Yanks’ starter Will Warren, who lasted 4.1 innings due to a high pitch count. “Felt like a playoff game a little bit, using that many guys.’’
After pulling Armstrong’s 2-2 fastball barely foul down the right field line, Bellinger rifled the next pitch to left for the go-ahead hit.
“Schuemann had a great at bat (in front of me),’’ Bellinger said of the walk, loading the bases. I wanted to get the job done, keep it simple, not try to do too much.
“That was just a huge team win.’’
Now it’s Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon going in the next two games here, before the Yanks move on to Toronto for the weekend.
“(That’s) a really good team over there,’’ Bellinger said of Cleveland. “They’re always super competitive.’’
So, “we needed just about everyone’’ to get to .500 (3-3) so far without Judge. “It took all of us.’’
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees’ tough road without Aaron Judge requires “all of us”
