On Thursday night, the Yankees pulled off a surprising comeback against the Mariners. Brian U, the Mariners’ starting pitcher, had kept the Yankees hitless through eight innings, but New York erased a five-run deficit in the last two innings and ultimately won 6-5 in the 10th inning.
The game’s turning point came in the ninth inning when the Yankees were trailing 5-3 and faced the All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz. With two outs and runners on base, Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger hit singles to keep the inning alive. Notably, Grisham appeared to pick up on Muñoz’s pitch selection cues, especially for the slider. Yankees sources confirmed to reporters Chris Kirschner and Brendan Kuty that the team had observed Muñoz’s pitching tendencies, which helped them anticipate his pitches.
Despite being behind 0-2 in the count, Rice worked the count to load the bases after Muñoz threw two consecutive balls on sliders. Using Bellinger as a base runner, the Yankees’ Austin Wells then hit a two-run single on a 3-2 fastball that tied the game.
In the bottom of the 10th, with the bases loaded and one out, Aaron Judge delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly, aided by Anthony Volpe’s slide, to complete the comeback and sweep the Mariners in their three-game series.
Yankees coach Laurie noted after the game how the team had figured out Muñoz’s pitching quirks, emphasizing that while it’s not illegal to pick up such clues, it’s their responsibility as a team to be aware early on. Muñoz himself admitted that he had been struggling with his slider and that the Yankees capitalized on that, suggesting the need for better strategies to counter this going forward.
In the 2025 season, Muñoz has been outstanding overall, boasting a 1.06 ERA with 8.1 consecutive scoreless innings across nine appearances and earning his second All-Star selection. This will likely be the last regular-season meeting between the Yankees and Mariners; if they face each other again, it would be in the postseason. This raises intriguing questions about whether the Mariners can better conceal Muñoz’s slider or if the Yankees will adjust their approach in future encounters.
Fan Take: This thrilling comeback highlights the strategic depth of baseball, where even subtle observations can turn the tide of a game. For fans, it underscores why every detail matters and sets up a compelling storyline for what could be an intense postseason battle between these two teams.
