During a 3-hour, 49-minute, 16-run marathon of sometimes thrilling, sometimes ugly, always frigid baseball Saturday night, the Yankees struggled to put the game away in part because Jazz Chisholm Jr. took his time on a ground ball.
To begin the ninth inning of a contest the Yankees were trying to close out, Otto Lopez sent a routine grounder to Chisholm and sprinted all-out to first. The second baseman did not charge the ball, took his time delivering it to Ben Rice at first and then watched as Lopez beat the throw for an infield single.
The Marlins proceeded to send seven to the plate in the frame but scored just once against David Bednar, who struck out Griffin Conine with the bases loaded to preserve a 9-7 win over the Marlins in The Bronx.
“Just kind of laid back on it,” manager Aaron Boone said of Chisholm. “Credit to Lopez, [who] was getting down the line in a hurry. Probably figured he had plenty of time.
“But one he’s got to close on, and obviously we got to make that one.”
Asked if he intended to chat with Chisholm about the play, Boone said, “We’ll see.”
It was an all-around frustrating night for Chisholm, who went 0-for-5 with a pair of strikeouts.
Bednar, who recorded his fourth save, ended up throwing 33 pitches. In his previous outing, a Wednesday win in Seattle, the closer threw 40 pitches in 1 ⅓ innings.
Home-plate umpire Ron Kulpa exited the game in the fourth inning after taking a foul ball off his mask.
The Yankees expect Luis Gil to join the big league rotation Friday as the early season off-days fade and the club will need a fifth starter.
Gil is set to pitch Sunday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as a final tuneup for what will be his 2026 debut in Tampa to begin a series with the Rays.
During a camp in which Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Ryan Weathers and Will Warren stayed healthy, Gil became the odd man out in part because he could be optioned to the minors and in part because his stuff looked closer to his 2025 season, when he was first hurt and then less impressive, than the stuff that helped him win the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Award.
But Gil took steps during spring training — notably seeing a velocity uptick with his last Grapefruit League start, in which he shut down the Orioles with seven strikeouts in five shutout innings — that hinted the front-of-the-rotation upside is still within reach.
Fried will finish the series against the Marlins on Sunday before Schlittler, Warren and Weathers, in that order, get the ball for a series against the A’s. Gil will follow Weathers.
The Yankees will need to free up a roster spot for Gil, which could put Rule 5 pick Cade Winquest and relievers who can be optioned — such as Brent Headrick and Jake Bird — in jeopardy.
Gerrit Cole threw another bullpen session and appeared to come through OK.
Boone said he was not immediately sure the next step for Cole, who is building up following Tommy John surgery.
Carlos Rodón, who felt hamstring tightness Tuesday that paused his progression following offseason elbow surgery, returned to a mound and threw a bullpen session.
If he recovers well, the lefty could begin a rehab assignment as soon as this week.
