ST. LOUIS — Brian Cashman didn’t want to be misunderstood.
In saying late Friday afternoon that “there’s a lot of time on the clock” regarding the regular season, the Yankees’ general manager quickly pivoted.
“I don’t want to misrepresent there’s not urgency,” he added. “Because there is.”
On Friday night, his struggling team didn’t exactly play like it.
But given how things have gone for the Yankees for the last two months, they got what counted most — a win.
Behind 5 1⁄3 strong innings from Luis Gil and a two-run homer from Jazz Chisholm Jr. that highlighted a three-run first inning, the Yankees held on to beat the Cardinals, 4-3, in front of 31,169 at Busch Stadium.
The Yankees (65-57) improved to 5-8 since the July 31 trade deadline in which Cashman, who makes few trips with the team and said there was no particular reason he chose to come on this one, added seven new players.
They stayed 6 1⁄2 games behind the AL East-leading Blue Jays and increased their lead over the Guardians to 1 1⁄2 games for the American League’s third and final wild-card spot.
The Yankees, who surged to a 4-0 lead through three innings, saw the Cardinals claw back. Gil, who allowed one run, four hits and three walks in 5 1⁄3 innings, departed after back-to-back doubles by Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn in the sixth. Mark Leiter Jr. walked Alex Burleson before Ivan Herrera hit into a 6-4-3 double play, the Cardinals’ fourth inning-ending double play of the night.
Camilo Doval, one of those trade deadline additions, allowed two runs in the seventh to make it 4-3. Luke Weaver replaced him with runners at second and third and struck out Nootbaar on a changeup to end the inning.
Weaver allowed a two-out single by Ivan Herrera in the eighth and committed an error on a pickoff attempt trying for pinch runner Garrett Hampson, though first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who was looking down and didn’t appear to pick up the ball until it was sailing past him, should have made the catch. Regardless, Weaver struck out Nolan Gorman to strand the tying runner in scoring position.
After the Yankees left the bases loaded in the top of the ninth — they went 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position with nine left on base — deadline acquisition David Bednar struck out two in a perfect ninth for his second save as a Yankee. Cody Bellinger, who started at first but moved to left in the late innings when Jasson Dominguez was subbed out, made a running catch of Yohel Pozo’s sinking liner to end it.
The Yankees’ offense, which went cold after the first three innings, gave Gil a cushion before his first pitch of the night.
Trent Grisham led off with a seven-pitch walk against righthander Andre Pallante and Ben Rice slashed a double to right-center. Aaron Judge’s groundout to short brought in Grisham for a 1-0 lead.
After Bellinger lined to left, Chisholm lasered a 2-and-1, 95-mph fastball to right for his 21st homer and a 3-0 lead.
Gil recorded his first strikeout in the second, getting Ivan Herrera looking at a 92-mph changeup to start the inning. He walked Gorman, but Jordan Walker grounded into the Cardinals’ second straight inning-ending double play, this one 5-4-3, with Bellinger making a nice scoop from the dirt on Chisholm’s relay throw.
Chisholm walked with one out in the third and, with Anthony Volpe up, stole second. Volpe struck out swinging and, with Dominguez batting, Chisholm took third on a wild pitch. Dominguez, batting from his stronger left side, then grounded a 3-and-0, 94-mph fastball to left for an RBI single that made it 4-0. With Ryan McMahon up, Dominguez appeared to have his 20th stolen base of the season but overslid the bag and was called out via a Cardinals challenge.
Pedro Pages collected the Cardinals’ first hit against Gil with one out in the bottom half on a liner to left, but St. Louis hit into yet another double play as Victor Scott II smoked a line drive right at Bellinger, who stepped on first to double off the runner.
After Gil struck out two of three batters in the fourth, the Cardinals mounted their first threat in the fifth. Herrera walked to start the inning and went to third on Gorman’s single to right-center. With Walker at the plate, a passed ball moved Gorman to second. But Gil stranded both runners in scoring position as Walker popped to first, Thomas Saggese went down looking at a 99-mph fastball and Pages grounded to second.
Erik Boland started in Newsday’s sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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