Yankees sweep Mariners in walk-off fashion

NEW YORK- Not many sweeps can be seen as “necessary” throughout the course of a grueling season. But, as captain Aaron Judge the New York Yankees swept the Seattle Mariners with a 6-5 walk-off victory in extra innings, it became apparent that the season’s circumstances called for such a statement series.

Aaron Judge roped an RBI sacrifice fly off of Mariners reliever Gabe Speier in the bottom of the tenth inning to cement a sweep and end one the season’s most thrilling games.

Mariners starter Bryan Woo held the Yankees hitless through his first seven innings, but an Austin Wells RBI sacrifice fly and a two-run home run from Giancarlo Stanton in the bottom of the eighth changed the complexion of the contest.

“I haven’t pinch-hit too much and I haven’t been the greatest at it either, so it was good,” Stanton said of his home run.

What was once a 5-0 Seattle edge became a much more manageable 5-3 affair in short order.

After receiving a solid bullpen outing from Ian Hamilton, New York loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning against Mariners closer Andres Munoz. Wells slapped a two-run single to right field to tie the game and record his second and third RBIs of the night. The catcher was sure to credit his teammates for placing him in a position to come through.

“Those guys gave me a lot of confidence to go up there and trust I was gonna get a pitch to hit,” said Wells.

Closer Devin Williams tossed a clean top of the tenth for the Yankees, and made way for the Judge heroics in the bottom half of the inning.

New York’s recent struggles have fueled speculation regarding what general manager Brian Cashman and the front office will do before the trade deadline. If tonight’s win is any indication, the Pinstripes might have enough fight to warrant buying big for the stretch run of the season.

“I think we’ve shown that we can go big early in the games and that we can come back late,” Wells said.”I think it’s a total team effort too.”