Yankees rookies Lombard, Jones star in Old-Timers’ Day win as Cole outduels Braves’ Sale
NEW YORK — On Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium, the kids were more than all right.
So was Gerrit Cole.
Yankees rookies Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr. played starring roles in Saturday afternoon’s 5-4 win over the Atlanta Braves, providing most of the offense as Cole outdueled another elite ace in Chris Sale.
Jones delivered a pair of RBI hits, and Lombard scored twice — including on his second MLB home run — as the Yankees (66-51) clinched a series victory over Atlanta (70-47).
Cole held the high-powered Braves to two runs over seven innings with nine strikeouts, including his 1,000th as a Yankee. The right-hander allowed six hits without a walk on 82 pitches.
That matched the longest start of the season by Cole, who returned in late May after missing all of 2025 due to Tommy John surgery.
Cole, 35, improved to 6-5 with a 3.35 ERA in 14 starts. The 2023 American League Cy Young Award winner allowed just one run in 18 2/3 innings (0.48 ERA) with 21 strikeouts over his last three starts.
The Yankees struck first Saturday when Jones muscled an RBI single up the middle against the left-handed Sale with two outs in the bottom of the second.
Cole limited Atlanta to two hits through the first four innings, but the Braves tagged him with four consecutive hits to begin the fifth.
The second of those hits — an RBI double by Mike Yastrzemski — sailed beyond the reach of new Yankees left fielder Heliot Ramos, who took a step toward home plate before retreating. That ball had an expected batting average of .200, per MLB’s Statcast.
Jim Jarvis’ RBI single later in the inning gave the Braves a 2-1 lead, but Cole locked back in from there, retiring his final nine batters, including four via strikeout.
The Yankees retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth thanks to Lombard — their 21-year-old top prospect who made his MLB debut Tuesday — and Jones.
Leading off the inning, Lombard was rung up by home-plate umpire Dan Merzel on back-to-back pitches. But Lombard challenged, and won, both calls, resulting in a lead-off walk.
Jones followed with an RBI triple to tie the game, 2-2. Jones then scored the go-ahead run on a Sale balk — much to the chagrin of Atlanta manager Walt Weiss, who was ejected for arguing.
The lefty-swinging Jones, 25, has not gotten much exposure to big league left-handed pitchers, as he entered Saturday with six hits in just 22 such at-bats.
But the Yankees’ rash of injuries — including to outfielders Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger — has meant regular playing time for Jones, who went 2 for 2 against one of baseball’s toughest lefties in Sale.
The 37-year-old Sale, who won the 2024 National League Cy Young Award, allowed three runs in six innings with eight strikeouts.
He fell to 12-7 with a 2.20 ERA.
Righty-swinging Lombard provided an insurance run with a seventh-inning solo shot against reliever Victor Mederos, sending an opposite-field blast 352 feet into the right-field stands.
Lombard finished 2 for 3 with a walk and two runs.
Through four MLB games, Lombard is hitting .385 (5 for 13) with a 1.346 OPS.
Atlanta cut the score to 4-3 in the top of the eighth with a solo home run by Ronald Acuna Jr., but the Yankees responded with a solo homer by Ben Rice — his team-leading 32nd, and his first in 12 games — in the bottom of the inning.
Despite allowing a run in the ninth, closer David Bednar held on for his 26th save.
The victory continued the good vibes for the Yankees after a pregame Old-Timers’ Day celebration attended by Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Reggie Jackson, Joe Torre, Bernie Williams, David Cone, Ron Guidry and many other heralded team alumni.
The Yankees will go for a three-game sweep on Sunday afternoon, with Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.26 ERA) set to match up with Atlanta’s Grant Holmes (7-4, 3.67 ERA).
