Yankees' Will Warren, four relievers shut out A's
Will Warren #98 of the New York Yankees pitches against the Athletics at Yankee Stadium on Friday, June 27, 2025. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Yankees certainly didn’t distinguish themselves offensively Friday night, managing only four hits against an A’s pitching staff that came into the day with the second-worst team ERA (5.45) in baseball.
On this night, it didn’t matter.
Rookie righthander Will Warren shoved aside an erratic 36-pitch opening frame to throw a terrific five innings, and with stellar work from the bullpen and just enough offense, the Yankees beat the A’s, 3-0, in front of 46,192 at the Stadium.
“He has heart and he has grit, man,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said of Warren (5-4, 4.37).
After Warren allowed two hits and four walks in a 100-pitch outing in which he struck out seven, Tim Hill, Fernando Cruz, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams allowed one hit in four innings. Williams earned his 11th save in 12 chances.
Chisholm hit his 12th homer and second in as many games, a second-deck shot off Mitch Spence. Cody Bellinger went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
The night’s headliner was Warren, who labored through the oddest inning of his season, walking three and striking out three in the first. “He was probably two hitters from being out of the game,” Aaron Boone said.
Warren, who has allowed three or fewer earned runs in 13 of his 17 starts and has a 1.96 ERA in his last four starts, walked leadoff man Lawrence Butler on six pitches before striking out Jacob Wilson swinging at a 94-mph sinker and Brent Rooker looking at a 93-mph sinker. Warren walked Nick Kurtz — earning a visit from pitching coach Matt Blake — and Tyler Soderstrom to load the bases. After falling behind Gio Urshela 2-and-1, Warren (with Allan Winans warming in the bullpen) struck out the former Yankee looking at a 95-mph sinker.
Warren then struck out two in a 1-2-3, 11-pitch second and was on his way.
“Sometimes I’m good at executing the corners,” he said. “Tonight I kind of was spraying the ball a little bit, so it’s like, ‘All right, let’s throw it to the bigger part of the plate and let them put the ball in play.’ ”
Warren, who debuted last season to mixed results, has the look of a young pitcher figuring out his way as a big-league starter, and part of that is getting through an outing in which he doesn’t have his best stuff. It is something Warren, whose most consistent pitches have been his four-seam and two-seam fastballs as well as an at-times-nasty sweeper, has managed multiple times this season.
“I think that’s what makes all of us in here good is the days you don’t have your stuff, your mentality is still the same,” said Warren, whose self-confidence reminds many on the inside of Michael King when he was developing as a starter with the Yankees. “And that’s when you rely on your routine and your strengths and what makes you good, and you can go lean on that a little more.
“On the days you feel good, you can throw whatever you want up there and throw it wherever you want. That’s why those are so fun . . . The outings when you’re struggling with your command or your stuff’s not elite that day, it’s when you lean on what makes you as a player good.”
Spence (2-3, 3.82), a former draft pick of the Yankees whom they lost in the Rule 5 draft before the 2024 season, allowed three runs (two earned), three hits and four walks in five innings. He struck out five.
With one out in the second, Chisholm blasted a first-pitch, 92-mph cutter 377 feet into the first row of seats in the second deck in right for a 1-0 lead.
With two outs in the third and Anthony Volpe on second, Aaron Judge was intentionally walked for an MLB-leading 18th time. Bellinger singled up the middle to make it 2-0.
Though players sometimes will talk about feeling disrespected when a player is intentionally walked in front of them, Bellinger smiled.
Walking Judge to get to him?
“Understandable,” Bellinger said. “I mean, he’s the best hitter on the planet.”
Notes & quotes: The Yankees promoted outfielder Spencer Jones from Double-A Somerset to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In 49 games this season, Jones was hitting .274 with 16 homers, eight doubles and a .984 OPS. He was 21-for-49 (.429) with six homers and a 1.346 OPS in his last 13 games.
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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