Bryan Reynolds hit two home runs, including a go-ahead two-run shot in the eighth inning, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Yankees 4-2 on Friday night. This win kept New York from securing home-field advantage for the American League playoffs.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. gave the Yankees a lead with a two-run single in the fifth inning, but then Nick Gonzales and Bryan Reynolds hit back-to-back home runs against Carlos Rodón in the sixth.
“I asked him, ‘Have you ever hit two at Yankee Stadium?’ He said, ‘No.’ I told him I’ve seen people do it,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton recalled telling Reynolds.
After hitting right-handed against Rodón, Reynolds then switched to left-handed and homered to center off Tommy Kahnle (0-2).
“He walked back and said, ‘Yeah, now I have,’” Shelton remembered. Reynolds smiled as he rounded the bases, saying, “So, yeah, spoken into existence.”
This was Reynolds’ second game this season with multiple home runs and the seventh of his career, with three of those being from both sides of the plate. He leads the Pirates with 24 homers and 88 RBIs, marking his fourth consecutive season with at least 24 home runs.
The pitching staff, including Joey Wentz, Colin Holderman, Carmen Mlodzinski (5-5), Dennis Santana, and former Yankee Aroldis Chapman (13 saves in 18 chances), retired the last 14 Yankees in a row.
New York is set to start the Division Series at home on October 5 and can guarantee home-field advantage in the League Championship Series by winning one of its last two games or if Cleveland loses one of its last two.
Rodón gave up two runs, four hits, and four walks in 5 1/3 innings. He finished the season with a record of 16-9 and a 3.96 ERA, improving from a tough 2023 season where he was 3-8 with a 6.85 ERA due to injuries after signing a $162 million, six-year contract. Rodón also allowed a career-high 31 home runs, with 23 being solo shots.
“The goal was to go out there and make every start this year and did that,” Rodón said.
After winning the AL East, the Yankees decided to rest Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo, and Austin Wells. This was Judge’s third game off this season, with previous rests on June 10 against Kansas City and June 19 against Baltimore. He has hit home runs in five consecutive games, bringing his major league-leading total to 58.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone considered using Judge and Stanton as pinch hitters in the ninth inning.
“Unless we put together a rally with some traffic, I really valued having those guys down today,” Boone said. “But it was tempting, yes.”
New York plans to take Monday off, have a mix of workouts and simulated games over the next three days, and hold a mandatory workout on Friday before the Division Series starts.
Pittsburgh rookie Jared Jones gave up two runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings, hitting 100 mph on four pitches. The 23-year-old right-hander made five starts after missing eight weeks due to a strained lat muscle and finished with a record of 6-8, a 4.14 ERA, and 132 strikeouts in 121 2/3 innings.
“I would say it’s terrible, but a lot of other people would say I had a pretty good one,” Jones said. “Coming back after injury, it kind of took a while for the stuff to come back, and I felt like it finally all came back in the last two, three starts.”
His fastball against the Yankees averaged 98.7 mph, which is 1.4 mph higher than his season average and nearly matching teammate Paul Skenes’ average of 98.8 mph.
Jones’ goal for next year is “just trying to get as strong as possible and maybe I get a start or two where I beat Paul Skenes in velocity for a week.”
Chisholm stole two bases, reaching a career-high of 40.
“It’s a number that we were aiming for all year, 40 bags,” he said. Right-hander Michael Burrows was added to the Pirates’ taxi squad.
