I recapped the Yankees’ incredible 13-run inning against Sacramento, and I was tapped for tonight’s blowout win as well. Should I recap a third blowout, that’s a trend and I’ll be asking my editors for a raise, since clearly I’m having influence here.
The Yankees were down 1-0 three batters into the game, but that was just about the only time it felt like they were in any danger. Two huge innings catapulted them to another win, and they’re now 8-2 in their last ten — all without Aaron Judge! The 12-2
victory tonight sets them up well for yet another series win against what would ostensibly be called a playoff contender, this time the Chicago White Sox.
Until the third inning, you could make a very good case that Davis Martin would be the runner up to Cam Schlittler in the AL Cy Young race. We’re still a little under halfway through this season, but those odds certainly took a hit once the Yankees got a second look at the righthander. He entered play second in the Junior Circuit with a 2.38 ERA. He left ranked 12th, at 3.31.
Spencer Jones jumped on a ball to tie us up in the second:
Jones paired that with a bases-loaded walk a couple of innings later, and for all my skepticism about his potential as a major-leaguer, being able to cut back on whiffs just a little bit makes him a much more valuable piece of this team. He struck out in the sixth on one of those pitches he has to learn how to take because his levers are so long, but on the whole well done Spencer.
Now, onto the third inning — and then the fourth.
Ben Rice chose a great time to challenge a called third strike, setting up Cody Bellinger to push the Yankees ahead:
Jones’ walk and José Caballero’s sac fly pushed the lead to four, and Gerrit Cole did exactly what you want your “ace” to do — delivered a shutdown inning and got a weary Martin back on the bump. With one on and one out, Benny Barrels made this a laugher:
And after Benny, New York’s Oldest Man Paul Goldschmidt ended Martin’s night:
But wait, there’s more!
Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled and Spencer Jones worked another walk, while Ryan McMahon continued to build something of a floor for himself with an RBI base hit. Reliever Chris Murphy threw away another run, committing an error trying to retire J.C. Escarra, and that gave the Yankees their 11th run. It wasn’t quite the 13-run inning that we saw against the As, but those two frames today took eons to finish, for very good reasons.
As for Cole, he was solid and certainly seemed to be pitching to the scoreboard, another crafty veteran trait to match the new windup and uhhhh, paunch. Six full innings, two runs allowed, and we saw a little more whiff on his pitches than in his previous start. He did leave an absolute sub to Andrew Benintendi in the first inning and Benintendi did exactly what you’re supposed to do with a pitch like that.
That was really Cole’s only mistake though. He got into a little bit of trouble in the sixth, giving up another run, but if he repeats himself tonight the rest of the way, that vaunted Yankee pitching rotation is gonna be in pretty good shape.
We got a position player pitching in the bottom of the eighth, and of course José Caballero took an absolute daddy hack:
I startled my friend with how loudly I laughed at the swing, and the Yankees had a dozen.
It’s nice to start the baseball week with a breeze, and it’s even better when you knock around one of the league’s best arms. Carlos Rodón will look to keep this hot streak going tomorrow in game two, once again with a 7:05pm Eastern start.
