On an afternoon Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered, tripled, walked and drove in four runs, there was some debate over which side of his game helped his team more.
“Jazz’s defense I think was better than his day at the plate,” Marcus Stroman said after the Yankees clinched a series victory by beating the A’s 12-5 in The Bronx on Sunday.
Chisholm — a second baseman pushed to third, possibly to give the Yankees more flexibility in either adding a second baseman or third baseman at the trade deadline — looked natural at third base, where his speedy legs might not be maximized but his strong arm is.
The ball kept finding its way to Chisholm, who made difficult plays look manageable in several cases, the most significant in the third inning.
With runners on first and second base and one out, both runners attempted to steal as Stroman induced a ground ball from Jacob Wilson.
Chisholm fielded, beat lead-runner Willie MacIver to third base and used the bag as a springboard in leaping and throwing strong across the diamond to complete the double play.
“A bunch of huge plays that helped me out in big spots — plays that are not normal plays,” Stroman said.
He made several long, strong throws — occasionally with some help from a smooth-picking Paul Goldschmidt — including on a chopper from Luis Urías in the fifth inning that forced Chisholm to retreat and unleash a missile from the grass.
“I do like throwing the ball hard sometimes,” said Chisholm, who also made a nice catch against the railing in the eighth while falling into the netting down the left field line. “At second base, you don’t really get to throw the ball hard unless it’s a super close play.
“It’s fun to gather your feet and let one loose every now and then.”
Aaron Judge said Chisholm can “change games on both sides of the ball.”
Since coming back from the injured list, the infielder has been a rare rolling Yankees hitter — batting .318 with six homers in 23 games — while attempting to play under control, which he has playfully called playing at 70 percent.
“Even the home run — I saw a fastball and tried to get to it,” Chisholm said. “Just put a 70 percent swing with some backspin on it, and it got out.”
Anthony Volpe was ejected by first base umpire Chad Fairchild at the end of the eighth inning. Fairchild ruled Volpe had not checked his swing.
According to Boone, Volpe did not say anything to get tossed. The manager approached Fairchild, who said he warned Volpe to stop raising his arms in complaint, and Volpe continued to do so.
JT Brubaker showed little in relief, recording just one out in the sixth inning while allowing two hits and walking three. He was charged with four runs.
J.C. Escarra returned to the team after his wife gave birth, yet Ben Rice was back behind the plate for a second time in three days and for a third start of the season.
Boone said he wanted to use another day for Escarra to “get acclimated” and expected Austin Wells to catch Monday in Toronto, then Escarra to start a day game on Tuesday.
Despite again having two catchers ahead of Rice on the depth chart, Boone said he still expected Rice to get “periodic” starts.
Exactly how periodic those starts arrive will be worth watching.
Rice’s at-bats have been more encouraging than Wells’ — the usual starting catcher is 6-for-40 with a .361 OPS in his past 12 games.
Especially if the lineup continues to struggle, it is possible the Yankees try to shoehorn Rice’s bat into the lineup at catcher more often.
Rice, who went 0-for-2 with a walk, has shown enough behind the plate for that to become a possibility.
“So far it’s been really good,” Boone said of Rice’s defense. “In some ways [I] haven’t noticed him, in a good way.
“I think the receiving has been excellent — really excellent.”
As the reigning pennant-winning manager, Boone will be the skipper for the American League at the All-Star Game.
Managers no longer have a say in the roster selection, though, which Boone said he has had to inform other managers who reached out “wanting to kind of advocate for some of their players.”
When the rosters are finalized, Boone wants to make the lineup himself.
“I’d like to make that thing out,” Boone said with a smile. “We’ll see. I haven’t talked to the league about it yet.”
DJ LeMahieu, who had played three games straight, took a seat as Oswald Peraza (0-for-4) started at second base.
