Yankees' Jazz Chisholm takes surprising MLB lead with heroic home run

Yankees' Jazz Chisholm takes surprising MLB lead with heroic home run originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The New York Yankees badly needed someone to come through.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. answered the call.

The Yanks had already lost once on Sunday, dropping game one of their doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers as Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw a complete game for the back-to-back World Series champs.

Then on Sunday Night Baseball, New York's 1-0 lead had been taken away by a Tommy Edman game-tying home run.

That's when Chisholm came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning.

And that's when Chisholm showed that, amid a rough season for him, his clutch gene hasn't been the problem.

Jazz's solo homer stood up as the final run in a 2-1 victory, and it also pushed him into a tie for an MLB lead.

He now is tied for the most homers in the eighth inning or later to win a game this season. This was his third, matching Gavin Sheets of the Padres.

The Yankees haven't had a player with more than three in a season since 1987:

Jazz Chisholm Jr. has 3 game-winning home runs in the 8th inning or later this season.

That's tied with Gavin Sheets for the most in MLB.

The last Yankee to have more in a season was Mike Pagliarulo (4) in 1987.

— New York Yankees Stats (@nyyankeesstats) July 20, 2026

This hasn't been a perfect season for Chisholm by any means. He entered the year talking about wanting to go 50-50, and then it took a really long time for his power to show up.

Now, though, he's coming through when the Yanks need someone else to deliver with Aaron Judge still out.

A Sunday night win like that can boost the confidence in a major way, and it was Chisholm who provided the special moment when the Yankees very much needed it.