The New York Yankees were teetering on the edge of disaster, staring down the barrel of a potential sweep by the Texas Rangers that would’ve cost them their precarious hold on the third AL wild-card spot. With 47 games left in the season, their road trip had been a brutal gauntlet, but on a sweltering Wednesday afternoon at Globe Life Field, they clawed their way back from the brink. Thanks to a Herculean effort from their bullpen—capped by David Bednar’s heart-stopping, 42-pitch, five-out save—the Yankees snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory, keeping their playoff hopes alive.
The game’s defining moment came in the ninth inning, with the Yankees clinging to a one-run lead and the tying run on second. Bednar, a recent addition to the Yankees’ roster, had already thrown 35 pitches and struck out four batters across the eighth and ninth. Manager Aaron Boone, sensing the moment’s weight, approached the mound, ready to pull his closer for Camilo Doval, who was warmed up for an emergency. But Bednar wasn’t having it.
“I said, ‘I’m going to take you out,’” Boone recounted postgame. “He gave me a look like, ‘No you’re not.’ So I said, ‘You sure?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, let’s go, I got this guy.’”
That “guy” was Rangers slugger Adolis García, a dangerous bat with the game on the line. Bednar, unfazed, bore down and struck him out, sealing the win and earning the kind of respect that resonates in a clubhouse. His 42 pitches were the most he’d thrown in a single outing since 2022, a testament to his determination.
“That’s a dawg effort right there,” Boone said, grinning. “He put the team on his back and won the game,” added starter Carlos Rodón.
The Yankees’ bullpen, a sore spot since early July, had been their Achilles’ heel in the first two games of the series. Devin Williams, in particular, had faltered, contributing to back-to-back losses that left New York desperate for a win. With key relievers Luke Weaver and Williams unavailable after pitching on consecutive days, Boone had to piece together the final 12 outs with a patchwork of arms: Mark Leiter Jr., Tim Hill, Yerry De los Santos, and Bednar.
Leiter, making his first appearance in a month after a stint on the injured list with a left fibular head stress fracture, escaped a jam in the sixth with a clutch double play. Hill navigated the seventh but left two runners on, forcing De los Santos to enter with the bases loaded. The right-hander induced a flyout from García to keep the Rangers at bay. De los Santos then handled the eighth until a lefty pinch-hitter, Joc Pederson, prompted Boone to call on Bednar earlier than planned.
“Those guys down there played a real meaningful role behind Rodo,” Boone said, praising the bullpen’s collective effort.
The offense, meanwhile, leaned on a veteran’s timely swing. In the seventh, with the score tied, Paul Goldschmidt stepped up as a pinch-hitter for Austin Wells against lefty reliever Robert Garcia. Goldschmidt, who’s been a lefty-killer all season, crushed a go-ahead homer—his second in three games, both against southpaws—breaking a 31-game homerless drought. It was the kind of swing that shifts momentum and gave the Yankees the lead they’d fight to protect.
Carlos Rodón, the Yankees’ starter, battled through five-plus innings, allowing two runs on six hits and four walks. It wasn’t pretty—his 15 walks over his last four starts highlight a troubling trend—but it was enough to keep the game within reach. The Yankees’ rotation has been a concern, with no starter recording an out in the sixth in their last seven games, putting extra strain on an already shaky bullpen.
The win moved the Yankees (61-54) 1½ games ahead of the Rangers (60-56) for the third wild-card spot, a small but critical buffer in a tight playoff race. For a team that’s leaned heavily on its star power but struggled with consistency, Wednesday’s victory was a reminder of what’s possible when the bullpen delivers. With new additions like Bednar and Doval, and hopes of getting Williams back on track, the Yankees see a path to turning their relief corps into a strength.
“[Bednar] is a competitor out there,” said Goldschmidt, who faced the former Pirate plenty in the NL Central. “I have a lot of confidence in him. Just a great, great job by him. We really needed it.”