The Yankees rolled into Toronto with two glaring problems: a shortstop pressing at the plate and a catcher spot that has been a black hole in the lineup for weeks. On Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre, both started to crack open at the same time, and the Bombers grabbed a 1-0 lead because of it.
Start with Volpe, because that is where the energy has been all day. He has been everywhere on the dirt, gobbling up grounders that have no business being outs and reminding everyone why the Yankees committed the keys to the position to him in the first place. The range play on Pinango was the kind of rep that gets coaches nodding in the dugout.
Volpe ranging well to his left to erase a Blue Jays grounder off Pinango.
Then he carried it into the box. After a brutal stretch where every Volpe at-bat felt like an adventure, he squared up Patrick Corbin and pulled one into the outfield grass for a base hit, sprinting into second to set the table. New York sports karma being what it is right now — the Knicks just hoisted a trophy — the riff writes itself.
Volpe punishing a Corbin offering and motoring into scoring position with the score still 0-0.
And then the part nobody saw coming: a Yankees catcher actually delivered. For the entire month, that spot in the order has been an automatic out. On this swing it was the difference, a knock to the outfield that plated the run and put New York up 1-0 in Toronto. Low bar, sure. But after weeks of getting nothing from behind the plate, you take the RBI and you run with it.
The first Yankees catcher RBI of the month — an extra-base knock off Corbin that scored Volpe to make it 1-0 NYY.
None of this fixes the bigger questions about the lineup, and Corbin is not exactly peak Corbin. But for one afternoon at Rogers Centre, the shortstop looks like a building block again and the catcher spot stopped bleeding. That is more than the Yankees have gotten out of either in a while.