The Yankees entered this game with 48-percent of their runs scored via the home run, which is third-highest in the majors. The Cubs entered this game with 51-percent of their runs surrendered coming via the home run, which is the highest in the majors. Those two facts plus the soft-tossing lefty Shota Imanaga combined to wake the Yankees bats up just enough, Amed Rosario and Spencer Jones crushing a pair of solo home runs to account for all the scoring in this contest. Will Warren rebounded from
his worst start of the season to post his best start of the season en route to a 2-0 win in the opener over the Cubs.
The Yankees struck out ten times in six innings against White Sox starter Sean Burke on Thursday and that swing-and-miss followed them from the South Side to Wrigley. Ben Rice and Amed Rosario struck out in the first, Jasson Domínguez and Anthony Volpe in the second, and Spencer Jones in the third as Imanaga retired the first eleven batters he faced. Fortunately, Will Warren picked a good day for a bounce-back start and was largely able to match Imanaga whiff for whiff. He struck out Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner to end the third, and then punched out Micheal Conforto, Dansby Swanson, and Pete Crow-Armstrong in the third to navigate around a Miguel Amaya double.
Imanaga made it two outs into the fourth before throwing his first mistake, and boy did it travel a long distance. Rosario pounced on a get-me-over 1-0 sweeper and launched it 450 feet just left of center for the game’s opening run. Initially brought back to platoon with Ryan McMahon at third, Rosario has actually been way worse against lefties (75 wRC+) than against righties (133 wRC+), so it was nice to see him finally put a charge into a mistake from a southpaw.
He made his second mistake in the fifth and that too was sent a long way. Spencer Jones was handed a rare start against a lefty with Jazz Chisholm Jr. out of the lineup after departing Tuesday’s game in the 11th with cramps, which opened a spot in right as José Caballero filled in at second. He repaid that trust by crushing a middle-middle 0-1 sinker from Imanaga on a frozen rope into the seats in right, the ball leaving his bat at 109 mph and traveling 418 feet. It’s his second homer in his last three games and his first in MLB off a lefty. Jones looks way more like he belongs at this level since his second call-up on June 5th and now has an OPS above .800 in this 27-game stretch.
Warren entered cruise control in the middle innings, retiring 12 straight batters starting with the PCA punch out to end the third. He encountered his first spot of bother in the seventh, yielding back-to-back two-out singles to Alex Bregman and Happ. Despite his pitch count sitting at just 88, it was refreshing to see the urgency from Aaron Boone being proactive and retrieving his starter rather than risk the inning spiraling as is frequently the case when multiple runners reach against Warren. Paul Blackburn came on for the final out and induced a routine ground ball from Hoerner that Anthony Volpe still almost turned into disaster, his nonchalance on the simple flip to second sailing high and pulling Caballero off the bag. Umpires initially ruled Happ safe at second to load the bases, but the Yankees’ challenge fortunately overturned the call and ended the inning as Caballero got his foot down just in time.
Warren entered today’s outing with a 6.57 ERA in his previous eight starts with the bulk of his struggles coming when facing lefties, pitching out of the stretch, and facing the lineup for a third time. You worried that with five lefties in the lineup and the second best OBP (.340) in the majors, the Cubs would pose a particular threat for Warren, but he completely switched up his pitch mix today to excellent effect.
Entering today, Warren threw his four-seamer 38.1-percent of the time, sinker 27.6-percent of the time, changeup 10.8-percent of the time, and curveball a measly four-percent of the time. That got turned on its head today, Warren throwing 27-percent changeups, 26-percent four-seamers, 16-percent curveballs, and just eight-percent sinkers. Most encouraging was the uptick in changeups and curveballs, those two pitches the two most platoon-neutral offerings in his arsenal and therefore seemingly the obvious solutions to his struggles against lefties. Imanaga made it two outs into the seventh with just the two runs allowed, more than qualifying for a quality start, but Warren was simply the superior pitcher on the day, departing after 6.2 scoreless innings allowing four hits and no walks with seven strikeouts on 88 pitches.
The Yankees created one final scoring opportunity in the eighth, Jones and pinch-hitter Austin Wells drawing a pair of walks to open the frame. However, Caballero bunted into a force out and Paul Goldschmidt and Rice struck out to strand them in place. Blackburn stayed in for the bottom of the eighth and struck out the side, all on absolutely filthy changeups, while David Bednar navigated around a Pedro Ramírez single to lock down the save and win, 2-0, in the ninth.
Once again, the pitching carried the day for the Yankees, the offense managing just four hits. Nonetheless, it’s just the start the Yankees needed in the final series of the road trip. Max Fried will look to keep the momentum rolling tomorrow night against David Peterson in a battle of southpaws. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 pm ET with the broadcast moving to FOX.
