Yankees beat Dodgers with help from small ball and German before Volpe’s homer; Judge, Cortes may miss more time – The Denver Post

LOS ANGELES — Anthony Volpe’s two-run homer in the ninth put a dagger in the Dodgers, but the Yankees also needed some small ball to win Sunday’s rubber match, 4-1.

The first run of the game would not have been possible without a well-placed Isiah Kiner-Falefa bunt and an inexplicable, off-balance throw from Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol, who fired to an uncovered first base. The ill-advised decision gave the Yankees runners on second and third with one out in the seventh, and Jake Bauers proceeded to score on a broken bat groundout from Kyle Higashioka.

J.D. Martinez answered back with a solo home run off Domingo German in the bottom of the seventh, but the Yankees responded in the eighth with a walk from Anthony Rizzo and a double from Giancarlo Stanton. The recently demoted and promoted Oswaldo Cabrera then brought the game-winning run home with a soft groundball to the first base side of the mound.

“Good job by the base runners there and good job not hitting it too hard by Oswaldo and Higgy,” Aaron Boone jokingly said after the game.

Volpe then gave the Yankees breathing room, crushing his ninth homer of the season in the game’s final inning.

Volpe had been slashing just .164/.203/.353 over his last 123 plate appearances entering Sunday, but he totaled two hits in the game.

“It does a lot,” Volpe said when asked if his multi-hit game aided his confidence. “But at the end of the day, this is a really, really good team we’re going up against. So to take the series the way we did, and just to play the way we did, it’s huge.”

German, meanwhile, tallied 6.2 innings, four hits, one earned run, one walk and six strikeouts against the Dodgers in his second start back from a sticky stuff suspension. The Martinez home run was the only run German permitted, and he flustered the Dodgers with his curveball, changeup and pristine command.

“That’s Domingo. I think I looked up there at some point and he was like three balls and 28 strikes,” Boone said. “He was filling the zone and was unpredictable. His curveball and changeup were outstanding, but I think he did a good job of staying unpredictable. He worked the top of the strike zone occasionally with the four-seam and then had the sinker going. That’s what command looks like. That’s big-time command. That’s what you have to have when you go up against a lineup like the Dodgers.”

Added German: “It was my priority to throw strike one, then expand whenever I needed to.”

He now has a 3.69 ERA over 11 starts this season.

Clay Holmes recorded one scoreless frame in relief of German, while Wandy Peralta took care of the remaining outs.

The Dodgers’ starter, Bobby Miller, dealt as well, as the right-handed rookie surrendered just one hit to the Yankees over six scoreless innings. Miller, 24, walked two and struck out seven in the third start of his young career.

“He was firing today,” Boone said. “He was obviously tough on us. I mean, that’s a big-time arm. I’ve heard about him now for a little while and that arm came as advertised.”

Despite the neophyte’s efforts, the Yankees were still able to win a decisive game on the road. The victory wrapped up a successful west coast trip, as the Yankees went 4-2 in Seattle and Los Angeles.

“Look, it’s obviously tough any time you come all the way west,” Boone said, “and you go up against two teams in Seattle and what they’re doing pitching-wise and then obviously the Dodgers.”

With the road trip over, the Yankees have a Monday off day. The day should produce some more information on Aaron Judge (toe) and Nestor Cortes (shoulder), among others, as the two are expected to undergo further tests and evaluations back in New York.

Judge, who hurt his toe while making a door-busting catch on Saturday, said that he expects to have X-rays and/or MRIs in New York.

Asked if it feels like he has a broken toe, Judge said, “It’s tough to say. I’ve never broken a toe. So we’ll see what the tests say. I don’t want to throw anything out there just yet.”

The 6-7, 282-pound slugger answered questions while standing and wearing socks and slide sandals. If there was any extra protection or padding under his sock, it was not apparent. Judge didn’t have a noticeable limp when he made his way to his locker.

He also said that not playing on Sunday was “precautionary,” but he seemed resigned to the possibility of landing on the injured list.

“I really don’t care at this point,” Judge said. “If I’m on it, I’m on it. I’m trying not to be, but I got no answer yet. I’m hoping today and tomorrow, having a little bit of rest, it’ll be good to go hopefully on Tuesday. We’ll take it day-to-day right now.”

Cortes, meanwhile, said “the plan” is for him to miss two or three starts. He hopes his shoulder is just a case of inflammation.

“I’m not really concerned,” said Cortes, who has been having trouble recovering for a few starts. “It’s just a lot of soreness. I haven’t been able to bounce back like I wanted to between starts. Hopefully everything comes back clean tomorrow on the MRI & we can just get ahead of it & get better.”

The Yankees begin a three-game set against the White Sox on Tuesday, when Clarke Schmidt is scheduled to pitch. Lucas Giolito will throw for Chicago.

Schmidt is coming off his best start of the season, as he tossed 5.2 scoreless innings against the Mariners on May 31. The righty has allowed just three earned runs over his last three starts.

With Cortes probably heading to the injured list, the Yankees’ Wednesday starter remains up in the air. Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez are two starters on the 40-man roster who have pitched in the majors this season and could line up for Wednesday’s game.

Ex-Yankee Lance Lynn will start for the South Siders on Wednesday, while Mike Clevinger will square off with Luis Severino on Thursday before the Yankees play the Red Sox over the weekend.

That series will mark the Yanks’ first against their division rival this year.

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