The one-sentence recap for the first two games of the Yankees’ series with the White Sox: all’s well that ends well.
Was it ideal that the Bombers fell behind on Monday night, struggled to put the Sox away when they gained a lead, and forced their closer to grab the final out? Not exactly, but they got the win. Was it ideal that the Yankees failed to add any insurance runs to the three-run lead they grabbed in the second inning tonight? Not exactly, but they got the win. Was it ideal that David Bednar
had to take the mound for the fourth time in five games, losing his 24.2-inning scoreless streak on a two-run homer that made it close right at the end? Not exactly, but they got the win.
Bednar and the bats have Gerrit Cole to thank. Despite some turbulence in the fourth inning, Cole was the pristine pilot on the bump that the Yanks needed. Powered by the effort from number 45, the Yankees won 3-2, and gained a full game on the Rays in the American League East standings.
The Bombers’ first two trips to the bat rack couldn’t have progressed more differently. In the first, Anthony Kay struck out the side to make quick work of the top of the order. In the second, the first two batters Kay faced reached with well-struck singles, giving Anthony Volpe an RBI opportunity. Volpe charged a ball deep to left center where Tristan Peters nearly tracked it down at the wall. But Peters was unable to come down with the catch, the ball stayed in play, and Jasson Domínguez scored for an early 1-0 lead.
Volpe continues to excel against the Southsiders this year—this double made him 7-for-14 in the season series.
Trent Grisham had been forced to hold up at second to see if Peters would make the catch, and thus only made third before putting on the brakes. Thankfully, Max Schuemann was happy to provide a perfectly-placed chopper along the left field line, which scored both runners and extended the lead to 3-nil.
Cole, meanwhile, came out the gates looking as strong as he did in his previous outing against the Pirates. He even helped his case by making one of the niftier catches of an infield pop you’ll see from a pitcher. Colson Montgomery’s sky-high pop started falling in front of the mound and Cole saw it the whole way, but Austin Wells got into Gerrit’s airspace a bit, making him stagger back to spear the ball. It then popped out of his glove—disaster!—but Cole deftly snagged the biscuit with his pitching hand to record the out.
After mostly cruising through three innings, Cole lost his rhythm in the bottom of the fourth. He surrendered a leadoff double to Munetaka Murakami, then issued a walk. He engaged Colson Montgomery in a clash of wills and escaped with a popout, then got a dribbler to third from veteran Andrew Benintendi, laboring through deep counts all the while. A second free pass loaded the bases for Tristan Peters, who mercifully sailed a harmless popup to Rosario in shallow left. Cole was forced to throw 32 pitches in that frame, but he danced through the raindrops to post a massive zero on the scoreboard.
Better yet, he came back refreshed and pitched two more scoreless innings, walking around individual singles in both. He finished with a strikeout of Braden Montgomery to complete a six-inning scoreless performance, marking his fourth consecutive quality start. Getting length was all the more critical because of how much the bullpen had to labor to reach the finish line last night. Thanks to Cole, they only needed to grab nine outs in this one.
The sixth inning proceeded with little incident, though I wanted to note that Kay plunked Domínguez for his MLB-leading 20th hit batsman. He departed shortly afterward and Jordan Hicks completed the frame. An ensuing scoreless seventh from rookie Tyler Schweitzer sent us to the stretch with those three second-inning runs continuing to stand up on their own.
The White Sox appeared intent on forcing Angel Chivilli to play the field on his birthday. Well, no worries for the now 24-year old righthander. First he channeled Cole by catching a foul pop, then fielded a swinging bunt and fired to first for the second out. He got the third out on a fly to center, finishing a brisk bottom of the seventh. Happy birthday, Angel!
Brent Headrick got a favor to put yet another goose-egg up, as a splendid play from Jazz Chisholm Jr. sent us to the ninth and kept the White Sox scoreless. Earlier in the evening, Jazz had made a diving stop against the first batter Cole faced—here, he tracked down a grounder from Colson Montgomery which eluded Goldschmidt, then twirled and whisked an accurate throw back to Goldy for the third out. Nothing like good defense!
Of course, the Yankees were able to hand the ball to their closer at the top of his game. David Bednar entered riding his active 24-inning scoreless streak and began with a strikeout of Benintendi in his quest for 25. A single for Braden Montgomery continued his solid game and gave the Pale Hose a pulse. Bednar then fired a low-and-in fastball to Tristan Peters on 2-2 which home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz called a ball. Wells challenged, and on review the ball had scraped the corner of the zone. Two out.
It was up to second baseman Chase Meidroth, who worked ahead 2-1. Bednar fired a fastball on the inner half, and Meidroth turned it around for a 406-foot home run. The Yankee closer’s shutout streak was gone, and we had a 3-2 ballgame.
Give credit to Meidroth; that was a tough pitch to square up and that’s what he did. Wells went out to the mound to settle Bednar down, and he went after pinch-hitter Everson Pereira. Pereira battled, but fell on the splitter to finish the ballgame. Pity the foolish recapper who thought there would be no late drama. Was it ideal? Not exactly, but they got the win.
Earlier, the Texas Rangers went into Tampa and handed the Rays a rare home loss, winning 4-1. That means the Yankees gained a full game in the standings and now sit just a game and a half back of first place in the AL East, despite all those injuries and all the roster turmoil. The Bombers will try to make it a series victory tomorrow night, and they’ve got the right man on the mound to make it happen. Cam Schlittler opposes righty Davis Martin, with first pitch once again slated for 7:40 PM ET. Coverage will be on Amazon Prime Video for the Wednesday night contest.
