Unexpected heroics don’t change state of Yankees without Juan Soto

The third straight sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium started chanting “We want Soto,” and no one could blame them. The first 2 ¹/₂ games of this marquee matchup with the Dodgers hadn’t gone well, and his lineup replacement, Trent Grisham, was at bat and toting an .082 batting average.

Call it tough love. Call it inspiration. Call it whatever you want.

But darned if Grisham didn’t respond to the crowd’s rather rude rebuke, hooking a laser of a home run into the lower deck in right field to help salvage the final game in this confrontation of celebrated teams at Yankee Stadium.

Grisham’s surprise shot sent the Yankees to a 6-4 victory before a raucous crowd, and demonstrated that, yes, it is possible to win without Juan Soto, the Yankees’ beloved new superstar who sat out the series with his forearm inflammation issue.

Nobody saw this one coming. Not me, not the fans and certainly not Dodgers ace Tyler Glasnow, the MLB strikeout leader who whiffed 12 Yankees on Sunday night.

Grisham’s stunning, sixth-inning, three-run homer off Glasnow not only turned the game, it won over the crowd. When he batted later, the chant was amended slightly, to “We Want Grisham.”