All sorts of problems were on display for the Yankees: infield defense that has been under the microscope again underwhelmed; a couple of misplays extended an inning that would not end; Will Warren could not overcome the problems behind him and could not put batters away; a bullpen that had been spotty was far worse than that and coughed up lead after lead.
But these issues become minimized when the Yankees offense hums and Aaron Judge destroys baseballs.
In an entertaining Monday matchup that pitted the past two Team USA World Baseball Classic captains against each other, Judge and Mike Trout put on a show for eight innings before Judge’s co-stars stole the spotlight in the ninth.
Trent Grisham — who did not even start yet launched his first two home runs of the season — stepped into a two-run home run to tie the game in the ninth before the Yankees manufactured the game-winner, José Caballero doubling, stealing third and scoring on a walk-off wild pitch to claim an entertaining and back-and-forth 11-10 victory over the Angels in front of 35,789 in The Bronx.
JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST“Maybe it was good to have a game like that where it was a little messy,” manager Aaron Boone said after the Yankees (9-7) snapped a five-game skid. “The offense was able to really pick up what’s been excellent pitching for us so far.”
The Yankees outhit their other issues, their offense awakening in the New York heat and against Angels pitching. It took five innings for the Yankees to score seven runs — or more runs than they had scored in each of their previous seven games.
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Because of their other problems and because of Trout, they needed to keep adding on.
It was Trout — whose bid for a grand slam died a few feet short earlier in the game — who answered a three-run shot from Grisham in the fifth by smoking his own three-run home run to tie it 7-7 in the sixth.
A few minutes later, Judge crushed his second home run of the game to left, a bullet that might have dented the pole if angled a few feet to the left, giving the Yankees another lead that they would not hold.
Trent Grisham #12, getting high-fives in the dugout after hitting a 3-run homer in the 5th inning. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostThey already had blown a 4-0 lead after three innings — because the Angels scored four unearned runs against Warren, done in by an inability to finish off hitters and an error from Caballero plus a play Paul Goldschmidt normally makes — and a 7-4 edge after five innings because of Trout’s first homer.
What was one more lead to blow, this one 8-7 after the sixth?
The Angels seized control in the seventh and eighth — in the former, two hits and a sacrifice fly off Jake Bird tied the game, before Trout victimized Camilo Doval by demolishing his second homer of the night, a two-run, 445-foot dagger that banked into the visiting bullpen — which made the Yankees reach for their remaining ammunition in the ninth.
“A bunch of big homers could really get you down as a team,” said Grisham, who sat against opposing lefty Yusei Kikuchi, entered in the fifth and authored his best game of the season. “Staying in there and fight and staying in it the whole time was good to see.”
Aaron Judge reacts along with the bench after New York Yankees center fielder Trent Grisham hits a three-run homer in the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York, USA, Monday, April 13, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
Trent Grisham is greeted by New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton after he scores on his three-run homer in the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York, USA, Monday, April 13, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POSTWhat might have been the most backbreaking loss of the season became arguably the most inspired. Against closer Jordan Romano, who entered with a 0.00 ERA, Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled before Grisham — who entered the game hitting .133 but undeterred because of the strength of his at-bats — saw a 3-1 slider and punished it to right to flip the game.
“To go out there and get some results and put the ball in the seats in some big spots obviously was huge,” Boone said of Grisham, who then watched Caballero — the reigning American League steals leader — create havoc, aided by a nine-pitch at-bat from Ryan McMahon in which eight fastballs were followed by one slider, which slid all the way to the backstop and prompted a subdued Yankees celebration around the plate.
The defensive misplays, lack of length from Warren and, most notably, the 5 ¹/₃ innings of six-run ball from the Yankees bullpen could be forgotten for the time being.
So could that five-game losing streak.
“Every good team goes through at least two big losing streaks,” Judge said. “Hopefully we can get this one out of the way and hopefully try to avoid the other one. But it’s going to come, and you can’t ride the roller coaster.”






