Chisholm’s 7th-Inning Blast Lifts Yankees Past Blue Jays in Slugfest

The New York Yankees escaped a near-catastrophic start to their pitching rotation on Monday night, surviving a chaotic opening act and a determined Blue Jays offense to secure a 7-6 victory at Yankee Stadium. This was not pretty baseball, but it was unmistakably Yankees baseball, the kind of game where home runs matter more than fundamentals and ninth-inning drama feels inevitable.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Yariel Rodriguez lasted exactly 0.1 innings. That’s not a typo. The Blue Jays got clobbered immediately, with Paul Goldschmidt launching a solo shot in the bottom of the first before Rodriguez could even find his rhythm. This early capitulation set the tone for what would become a slugfest, but it also meant Toronto’s pitching staff would be stretched thin from the opening pitch.

Yet here’s where the Blue Jays nearly stole this game. Ernie Clement, having one of those nights that defines a player’s month, smashed a three-run home run in the fourth inning that put Toronto ahead. Clement finished with four RBIs on just three hits, a testament to his clutch approach. George Springer added a solo shot, and the Blue Jays looked like they might actually hold off the Bronx Bombers.

The Yankees’ Seventh-Inning Explosion Changes Everything

Then came the seventh inning, where baseball’s cruel unpredictability reared its head. Cody Bellinger, a player who has resurrected his career in pinstripes, tied the game with a two-run homer. The crowd was back in it, sensing what so many had suspected all along, that this game belonged to New York. Two batters later, Jazz Chisholm Jr. delivered the decisive blow, a go-ahead two-run home run that sent Yankee Stadium into pandemonium.

Chisholm’s blast proved to be the difference maker. The Yankees’ middle infield star, often criticized for his defensive limitations, showed why he belongs in pinstripes with that swing. This is a player capable of changing games in a single moment, and on Monday night, he did exactly that.

Bednar Closes Out the Drama

David Bednar, the Yankees’ closer, inherited a precarious situation in the ninth. Jesus Sanchez doubled with Ernie Clement on base, making it 7-6, but Bednar struck out two of the next three batters to secure the save. It wasn’t dominant, but it was effective, which is all that matters in September mindset baseball in May.

Paul Blackburn earned the win with 1.2 innings of work, an absurd circumstance that nonetheless resulted in victory. The pitching carousel on both sides was dizzying, yet the Yankees found a way to emerge from the wreckage with two points.

This game exemplified everything right and everything chaotic about baseball in 2026. The home runs flew, the pitching was erratic, and the margin for error was razor thin. The Blue Jays had their chances. They had the lead. But in the end, the Yankees’ deeper reserves of power proved decisive. On Monday night at Yankee Stadium, that was enough.