Trent Grisham breaks out with 2 homers as Yankees rally past Mariners
Yankees' Trent Grisham follows through on his fifth-inning home run against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The start of Trent Grisham’s night couldn’t have looked much worse.
It couldn’t have ended much better.
After taking his time coming in on a Brendon Donovan looper leading off the second — leaving it to rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr. to sprint from his position to make the catch, the ball instead dropping for a double — Grisham let his bat take it from there.
Grisham, in a 12-for-72 (.167) slide, though coming off two-hit games both Sunday afternoon and again Tuesday night, went 3-for-5, including two homers, with four RBIs Wednesday night in helping the Yankees to a 10-5 come-from-behind victory over the Mariners at the Stadium.
Grisham, batting .222 with 15 homers and a .732 OPS, is suddenly 8 for his last 17 with three homers, four doubles, seven RBIs and five runs over his last four games.
“He looks like he’s in a good place,” manager Aaron Boone said of Grisham who, despite his season-long difficulties at the plate has mostly remained at leadoff. “Feel like he’s seeing the ball well. Again, he’s so good at zoning his pitch. If he does that, he’s going to start getting on base a lot and making them pay for their mistakes.”
Of his recent stretch at the plate, the seldom verbose Grisham said: "I feel good."
Each of Grisham’s hits Wednesday were of significance.
With the Yankees (68-52) trailing 5-3 entering the bottom of the fifth, Grisham led off the inning by driving a first-pitch, 95-mph sinker from Seattle righty Bryce Miller 364 feet to right to make it a one-run game. After a Ben Rice double, rookie outfielder Spencer Jones, who also had a big night as he went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, hit the second of his two doubles to tie it at 5-5.
Grisham would put the Yankees ahead for good in the seventh, doubling in George Lombard Jr., who singled with one out, to make it 6-5. The Yankees got an RBI single from Rice and an RBI double by Jazz Chisholm Jr. later in the inning to make it 8-5.
Grisham put the finishing touches on a much-needed breather for the Yankees in the eighth inning with his second homer of the night to make it 10-5.
“The first couple (hits) were huge but that last one was, too. That keeps Bednar out of the game, keeps him available for tomorrow,” third baseman Ryan McMahon, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI said, referencing the Yankees, in a slew of close games of late, not needing to use their closer, David Bednar. “Feel like those were all really big hits out of Grish.”
Grisham, who accepted the Yankees’ $22.025 million qualifying offer over the winter, is among the most respected players in the clubhouse because of his unflappable demeanor, a quiet but piercing sense of humor and the way he goes about his daily business.
“In the day to day, you would never have any idea he’s been up and down,” said McMahon, who at home lockers next to Grisham, the two growing close the last two seasons because of, among other things, a shared love of golf. “He’s just a pro, man. He goes about his business the right way and I just think this is the fruits of his labor.”
Grisham, in his eighth season in the big leagues, said he learned in his first year, 2019 with the Brewers, never to get too high or too low.
“For me, that’s what I’ve learned,” Grisham said. “Earlier in my career, I’ve gotten really high, really low, really emotional. And what I’ve seen, the better players across the league usually just kind of stay even-keeled, so I just try to emulate that as much as I can.”
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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