None of that stopped New York from making a fight of it. The Yankees were shut out through six before stringing together a 3-run 7th to erase a 3-0 deficit and tie the game, flipping the energy at the Stadium and putting the bullpens on notice for extra innings.
The tie held through the 8th and 9th, but Pittsburgh broke through again in the 10th, plating 2 more to put the game away for good. New York's offense went cold right when it needed one more answer, and the Pirates escaped with 7 hits and zero errors to close it out on the road.
It's the kind of grinding, error-free win that plays well on a road trip — 2 clubs both hovering around .500 and .550, trading punches deep into a Wednesday doubleheader instead of settling anything early.
Both rosters are dealing with real subtraction. Pittsburgh's bullpen is stretched with Chris Devenski and Evan Sisk both out, and Endy Rodriguez and Spencer Horwitz are working their way back from the IL rather than helping right now. New York's situation is arguably worse given who's missing — no Judge, no Stanton, no Rodon — which is a lot of firepower and rotation depth to be without in a game that came down to extra innings.
Take away the final score and this still reads like 2 teams squeezed by a taxing schedule spot. The Pirates found just enough offense late to walk out of the Bronx with a split-turned-win, while the Yankees are left wondering how a 3-run rally in the 7th didn't hold up.