The week leading up to the MLB trade deadline has come with a lot of interesting storylines (derogatory) for the Yankees. Cody Bellinger joined Aaron Judge on the injured list on Saturday, forcing New York to once again put together a lineup with severe Scranton vibes in their series opener with the White Sox.
But the Bombers came to play, even when a poor start from Max Fried saw them stare down a 3-0 deficit after the first. They even got some rare production from the catcher spot, as Ali Sánchez
finally cracked his first MLB home run. When the smoke cleared from a bizarre battle on the South Side, the Yankees had Dolly Parton’d the Pale Hose 9-5. What a way to make a livin’.
That will be the test for this team in the second half: how will they respond when their best-laid plans go awry?
Gerrit Cole is planning to pick up Fried on the mound and spot the bullpen some rest in the second game of this four-game series. Cole was sharp against the Pirates his last time out, allowing three runs across seven innings in his last start facing the team that drafted him. He retired the side in each of the first four innings, but a pair of home runs muddied his line a bit from there. Still, his 11 strikeouts were a season high.
Cole picked up a win shortly after his return against the White Sox back in June: six innings, two runs on three hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. His opposing pitcher tonight, Anthony Kay, also took the mound in that series. The left-hander struggled through four innings, giving up four runs in an eventual 10-5 Yankee win. He’s had an up-and-down year overall, with a 4.21 ERA in just under 100 innings. Something to monitor: he leads the league in hit batters, with 19 of them. (And yes, one of those is a Yankee. He hit Caballero in that June start.)
How do you know that the Yankees are facing a left-handed pitcher? Your first clue is that Paul Goldschmidt is leading off, and your second is that Amed Rosario is batting third after Ben Rice. Of course, Rosario hasn’t really been doing that whole ‘smash lefties’ thing lately; it’d be nice to see him get back to it. Jasson Domínguez hits cleanup and plays right field, with Trent Grisham manning center and batting fifth. It’s the middle infield duo of Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. after that, followed by Max Schuemann in left field and Austin Wells behind the plate.
How to watch
Location: Rate Field, Chicago IL
First pitch: 7:40 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES Network, Chicago Sports Network
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM, 107.9 La Ley (CWS)
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