Yankees learn valuable lessons without Juan Soto while narrowly avoiding sweep vs. Dodger

NEW YORK It didn't take long for the to get used to bat in the lineup, but it quickly became a form of torture for their offense to operate without him. To open the first two Soto-le s games of the -Yankees series, the Bronx Bombers went 1-for-15 with runners Paul Campbell Jersey in scoring position and left 19 men on base. Yankees fans were so tired of two straight days of nonsense from the lineup that, when backup outfielder was at the plate with two outs and runners on the corners in the sixth inning Sunday, the crowd erupted into a loud "WE WANT SOTO!" chant. Me sage received. Grisham, one pitch later, proceeded to slam a three-run home run off Tyler Glasnow, no le s to right field, giving New York the lead for good. The Yankees defeated the Dodgers 6-4 on Sunday night in the Bronx to fend off their first sweep of the season. Me sage delivered. Grisham might as well have told the crowd to settle down and grow up as he rounded the bases, a straight-faced look of retribution accompanying his trot until he reached the Yankees dugout and sheepishly smiled with his teammates. The Yankees can learn something from Grisham after he loudly responded to the crowd's rude reminder that the club was mi sing a high-energy superstar. After the game, Grisham said intense moments like that help him get even more locked in at the plate. In his next at-bat, the crowd chanted: "WE WANT GRISHAM!" It's foreign for Soto to be a spectator. This weekend was his first time being out of the lineup since Oct. 4, 2022. He played in all 162 games last year, and the first 64 games of this season, too. We can safely a sume that, in those 612 days between, something, at some point, had afflicted Soto. He plays the game hard on both sides of the ball. Baseball players, particularly the superstars who don't take days off, are all managing some level of pain as they play through the long season. The Yankees (46-21) know that even a physically impaired Soto would've helped them win the series against the superteam Dodgers (41-26). But they played it smart, giving him time to rest and heal his forearm injury with a focus on the future of their season, rather than risk worsening his inflammation by playing in a star-studded matchup that looked and sometimes even felt like the World Series but in reality meant much le s. That prudent decision by the Yankees cost them a megawatt exposure to their flaws. With Soto sidelined, slumping first baseman moved up to fifth in the order on Friday and Saturday. He went hitle s to extend his hard-to-watch June skid to 1-for-29 Rizzo hasn't homered since May 10 while the rest of the lineup seemed zapped of its energy and dynamic flow without Soto. Just like last year, the Yankees fell into the trap of Judge basically being their only productive hitter. Until Grisham's statement blast, Judge was responsible for driving in four of the Yankees' six runs against L.A.'s playoff-caliber pitching staff. The Yankees needed two-plus games to adjust to the absence of Soto, further underlining how important he is to the succe s of the club. But, after two disappointing defeats the first arriving in extra innings, the second in the form of an embarra sing blowout the Yankees adapted. The third le son from this Soto-le s Dodgers series was demoting Rizzo to the bench Sunday. Boone took the well-liked veteran out of the equation and played switch-hitting in the lineup instead. That decision paid off as soon as the third inning, with Cabrera leading off the frame with a solo home run off Glasnow to put the Yankees on the board. With or without their best players on the field, the Yankees must continue making unemotional personnel decisions in order to squeeze the most production out of their roster. This weekend was a good step, by benching Rizzo, and they might soon need to addre s other roster vulnerabilities. There's second baseman , sporting an 83 OPS+ in his contract year. Then there's 34-year-old , outproducing last year's career-worst campaign (107 OPS+ compared to 86 in 2023) yet clogging up DH when hot-hitting outfield prospect is cranking home runs in the minors like he was born ready for big-league pitching. Championship teams are made up of quick adjustments and egole s players sharing the responsibility of winning games no matter what it takes. There are 27 outs and 26 men to get it done. In a series that was dubbed a litmus test for both teams, in the finale, the Yankees overcame the challenge and played like they might just be built to go the distance. It will take learning from valuable le sons to get there. is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for theNew YorkDaily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at . [Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? .] FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience Major League Baseball New York Yankees Los Angeles Dodgers Jesus Sanchez Jersey