The Yankees needed Josh Donaldson’s 10th-inning walk-off sacrifice fly to pull it out, but Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Tigers might be something the Bombers can really build on. They got the usual solid starting pitching from Jordan Montgomery, but their biggest offensive moment came from the guy who may have needed it most.
Joey Gallo hit his first home run since May 15 to help the Yankees complete the six-game sweep of their homestand and improved to a major league-best 39-15. The Bombers are the fifth team in the last 38 years to win at least 39 of their first 54 games of a season, which includes the 1998 Yankees, who went on to win the World Series. The Yankees have won 15 of their 17 series this season and they have swept six of them.
With Aaron Judge on second base to start the 11th, Anthony Rizzo singled. A great diving grab by Tigers’ second baseman Jonathan Schoop held Judge at third. Donaldson then turned on a 2-2 pitch from Detroit closer Gregory Soto for a long fly ball to left for his second “walk-off” plate appearance of the season and the 13th of his career.
Jordan Montgomery allowed two runs on five hits and one walk in 6.1 innings pitched. He struck out five. It ended a streak of five straight games where the Yankees’ starters tossed at least seven innings allowing one earned run or less. He extended the streak of going at least six innings to 10 straight games.
But the Gallo home run is what stood out in the clubhouse after the game.
His two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth were the Yankees’ first runs scored and tied the game.
“Part of our success is going to be having him play well,” Donaldson said. “And he does a great job in the field. And he’s been putting together some good at-bats, so it was a nice reward.
“I’m sure that felt good for him and for us.”
It seemed like a relief for Gallo.
“Every hit is nice, but I think it was kind of a big home run and kind of got us a little momentum and whatnot,” Gallo said. “Obviously, it feels nice to just help the team come through. I feel like I haven’t helped the team too much at the plate lately. So that felt good coming to the dugout and feeling like I contributed.”
After the Yankees had seemingly been shut down in the bottom of the fifth, they made the most of their second chance. They challenged the call on the field that Isiah Kiner-Falefa had been caught stealing second base, ending the inning. The video replay showed he was safe, giving Gallo an at-bat with the Yankees shortstop on second base. Gallo crushed a 3-1 sinker for his first homer in 45 at-bats. The 383-foot home run was his sixth of the season and only his second extra-base hit since May 15.
Gallo has struggled since the Yankees acquired him last July. The lefty-hitting slugger was coveted mostly among the analytics crowd because of his power and ability to get on base. He has not done much of either in his tenure in pinstripes. In 103 games with the Yankees, Gallo has a .292 on-base percentage, well below the .336 he had in Texas. He has a .336 OPS and an 83 OPS+, not comparable to the .833 and .116 he had with the Rangers.
So far this season, the Yankees have dropped him into the No. 9 spot in the lineup, where he had not hit since 2017, and moved him back over to right field, a position he played extensively with the Rangers.
This season, in 45 games, Gallo has a 38.8% strikeout rate which is in the bottom one percentile in the majors this season. He is in the bottom 2 percentile in Whiff percentage. Gallo is hitting .176/.277.324 with .601 OPS.
But Sunday, Gallo had a moment of relief.
“It was huge. Just happy for him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I know how much he’s grinding, know how much he cares, know how much the guys in that room care about him.
“A huge swing there by Joey and happy for him. It’s a hard game and you gotta just keep on competing and working to figure it out.”
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