From the depths of despair, the Yankees remained in second place, at least for a night.
One out away from being shut out and allowing the blazing-hot Red Sox to leapfrog them in the standings, the Yankees’ bats finally woke up in time to stop their slide for the time being.
Trailing by two runs entering the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees came back to tie it before winning it in the 10th on Ryan McMahon’s walk-off sacrifice fly for a 3-2 win over the Braves on Friday night in The Bronx.
After José Caballero failed to get a bunt down and struck out on a foul attempt to lead off the bottom of the 10th against righty Tyler Kinley, the Braves intentionally walked Spencer Jones to bring up George Lombard Jr., who drew a full-count walk to load the bases.
New York Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon (19) celebrates with his teammates after his walk-off sacrifice fly to beat the Braves in the series opener on Aug. 7, 2026. Jason Szenes for the New York Post
New York Yankees first baseman Luis García Jr. scored the winning run. Robert Sabo for NY Post
New York Yankees third baseman Ryan McMahon (19) is doused with water. Jason Szenes for the New York Post
McMahon, who had two of the Yankees’ four hits entering the ninth inning, then worked another full count before delivering the game-winning fly ball to right field that was deep enough to score Luis García Jr. from third.
And so the Yankees (65-51) staved off third place in the AL East — for what would have been the first time this season — and dropping into the second AL wild card, staying a half-game ahead of the Red Sox, who won their ninth straight game and improved to 32-5 over their last 37.
In the process, they snapped the Braves’ eight-game winning streak.
When the Yankees stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the eighth, it appeared to be their last gasp. But then, with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Lombard, in his third career game, reached on a swinging bunt and raced all the way to third on Braves closer Raisel Iglesias’ wild throwing error.
New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice (22) hits an RBI single to tie the game during the ninth inning on August 7, 2026. Jason Szenes for the New York Post
New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells (28) reacts after he hits an RBI double in the ninth inning. Jason Szenes for the New York Post
One out later, Austin Wells roped a double to right field to make it 2-1 and at least wipe away the shutout. Amed Rosario then drew a walk before Ben Rice — who walked to the plate in a 2-for-33 skid — laced a single off the right-field wall to tie it and put the winning run at third.
Heliot Ramos, who reached base four times, was hit by an 0-1 pitch to load the bases, at which point the Braves replaced Iglesias with lefty Dylan Dodd, who got García to ground out, sending the game to extras.
David Bednar tossed a scoreless top of the 10th, thanks to terrific defense from Lombard on a play in the hole and García on a pop-up to no man’s land in right field to end the frame.
New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried (54) throws a pitch during the first inning. Robert Sabo for NY Post
For most of the night, it looked like the Yankees were going to waste Max Fried’s 6 1/3 shutout innings.
The Braves (70-46) built a 2-0 lead after their former teammate left the game on solo shots from Austin Riley (off Fernando Cruz in the eighth inning) and Matt Olson (left-on-left against Tim Hill in the ninth).
Yankees starters have now allowed one run or fewer in eight of their last 10 games, but they are only 5-5 in that stretch.
On Friday, the Yankees could not figure out right-hander Tyler Mahle, who came into the night with a 5.13 ERA but tossed six shutout innings with nine strikeouts in his first start since the Braves acquired him at the trade deadline.
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The Yankees did not have a hit until Ramos led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a double to the gap. But two pitches later, there were two outs, as García and Jazz Chisholm Jr. both popped out on the first pitch.
Jones then came up and drilled a ball to center field that Dubón leaped at the wall to snag, robbing the Yankees of at least one run, if not two.
An inning later, McMahon roped a one-out double, only to be stranded at second base like Ramos as
Wells flew out, and Trent Grisham struck out.
