Jazz is back! Chisholm Jr. hits a solo shot in injury return to help Yankees win

Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a tiebreaking home run in his return from a month on the injured list, Carlos Rodon won his seventh straight decision and the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-2 on Tuesday night for their 11th win in 14 games.

Back from a strained right oblique that caused him to miss 28 games, Chisholm pulled a fastball into the first row of the right-center seats against Tanner Bibee (4-6) for a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning. Six pitches later, Anthony Volpe drove a sweeper into the left-field stands, giving the Yankees back-to-back homers for the fifth time.

Rodón (8-3) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings with eight strikeouts and one walk. He extended his scoreless streak to 20 innings and retired 17 straight batters entering the seventh, when Jose Ramirez singled, stole second and came around when David Fry bounced a single past DJ LeMahieu at second base. Rodón stranded runners at the corners.

Devin Williams, back as closer after Luke Weaver strained a hamstring, allowed Carlos Santana’s one-out double and pinch-hitter Daniel Schneemann’s two-out RBI single in the ninth, then retired Bo Naylor on a flyout for his sixth save in seven chances.

LeMahieu’s fifth-inning single drove in Chisholm, who had blooped a single for the Yankees’ first hit.

Chisholm moved to third base from second, where LeMahieu is starting, and made a fine throw from foul territory to retire Angel Martinez in the third.

Bibee threw a season-high 107 pitches, allowing three runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Fry, whose 10th-inning homer beat the Yankees in Game 3 of last year’s American League Championship Series, went 1 for 3 as the designated hitter in his first start following reconstructive right elbow surgery in November. He struck out Sunday as a pinch hitter in his season debut.

Sidelined since April 29, Chisholm drove Bibee’s first pitch of the seventh inning toward the right-center stands. He shuffled up the first-base line, holding his bat, convinced it was a tiebreaking home run.

And it was, barely, caught by a fan in the first row, 358 feet from home plate.

“Our hitting coach told me a story about Reggie Jackson,” Chisholm said. “He hit a homer that barely went over the fence. And he was like, `Hey, Reggie, how did you know that was gone?’ And he’s like, ‘Well, I hit 567 (actually 563) of them.’ So I told my coach, my story is that I’ve hit 1,000 homers in my dreams, so I had to know that one was gone, right?”

Chisholm didn’t complain about the position switch and gushed: “This is my favorite organization I’ve ever been a part of.”

“I just want to win. I want a ring,” Chisholm said. “You got (Aaron) Judge. You got Volpe, and they come and talk to you and when you have such a good relationship with the manager, I mean, you don’t mind doing anything for a guy that you have a good friendship with.”

An All-Star with Miami in 2022, the 27-year-old played middle infield for the Marlins from 2020-22, was moved to center field from 2023-24, then inserted at third when the Yankees acquired him in a trade last July 27.

“Everyone’s really pumped for him and happy for us that he’s back helping us,” Volpe said. “He’s just so smooth and has such a great arm that you can play wherever you want to play with him over there.”

Wearing a baby blue, 11 1/2-inch glove from his own company, Absolutely Ridiculous Innovation for Athletes (ARIA), Chisholm grabbed Martínez’s grounder down the line in the third and made a strong one-hop throw to first from foul territory for an inning-ending out. The glove is intended to be used for Father’s Day on June 15 and Chisholm started to break it in during three rehab games last week at Double-A Somerset.

“Sometimes you catch the ball over there at third base and you look at the first baseman and you’re like, wow, he’s pretty far,” Chisholm said.

He is batting just .194 with eight homers and 18 RBIs. But in addition to his bat and glove, Chisholm adds a vivacious personality.

“Really excited to have him back and good to see him have that kind of impact right away,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Guardians vs. Yankees Highlights | MLB on FOX

Check out the best moments between the Cleveland Guardians and the New York Yankees.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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