Paul Goldschmidt barely watched that ball land. It was 1-2 with two outs in the fifth, Tyler Davis serving up a 98.5-mph fastball, and the 38-year-old first baseman just turned on it -- 100.0 mph off the bat, 349 feet to right. Three runs, 9-3, and anyone still wondering whether the New York Yankees could survive without Aaron Judge had their answer again.
The Yanks beat the White Sox 10-5 Wednesday night at the Stadium, their 8th win in the last 9 games, and none of it looked especially hard.
The Inning That Ended It
The game was actually interesting for about three innings. Cody Bellinger had led off the bottom of the first with a two-run shot -- his 11th of the year, 363 feet off Anthony Kay's sinker -- and Anthony Volpe followed in the second with an RBI triple, Ali Sanchez adding an RBI single behind him to make it 4-0. Clean, efficient, plenty.
Then Colson Montgomery happened.
The White Sox shortstop hit a three-run bomb off Carlos Rodon in the third -- his 18th of the year -- and suddenly the Stadium got a little quiet. 4-3. The kid's good. You knew the lead felt smaller than it looked.
The Yankees answered in the fifth, and not quietly. Jose Caballero plated two with a single off Sean Newcomb. Then Newcomb got hit by a comebacker and had to leave (you almost felt bad about what came next). Tyler Davis came on, and Goldschmidt made him regret it immediately. Three runs. 9-3.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. added a solo shot in the seventh to make it 10-3. The rest was formality.
Bellinger Was a Triple Away
Bellinger ended the night a triple shy of the cycle -- meaning he had a homer, a single, and a double, just needed one ball to find the gap, and didn't get it. He'll survive.
The two-run shot to lead off the first was exactly the kind of at-bat this lineup needs from him right now, with Judge shelved. There's no big bat waiting to save you if Bellinger doesn't hit. And right now, Bellinger is hitting. That 363-footer off Kay's sinker had 92.2 mph exit velocity and a 28-degree launch angle, and the way he's been locked in lately, it felt like the first of many.
He's got 11 home runs. In a lineup that's had to manufacture things without its best player, that matters a lot.
Rodon and His Old Team
Rodon started for the White Sox before the Yankees came calling. He knows how they pitch, and they know how he pitches. On Wednesday it wasn't much of a contest -- he ran 7 strikeouts over 5 innings, gave up those three runs to Montgomery in the third (hard to hold him accountable for that), and otherwise kept Chicago from doing much damage.
He's been dominant against his old team since leaving, and tonight didn't change that pattern. He's a few starts into what looks like a real return from the elbow surgery that kept him off the mound through most of April and May. The ERA sits at 3.50. It's June. But it doesn't look like someone being held together with tape.
The bullpen handled the rest. Paul Blackburn worked 2.1 innings and gave up Montgomery's second homer in the eighth, but by that point nobody cared.
A Word on Montgomery
The White Sox lost 10-5 and nobody outside of Chicago is writing a glowing recap tonight. Except -- Colson Montgomery hit two home runs. His 18th and 19th of the year. That's 40 career homers in just 140 career games, a White Sox franchise record for fewest games to reach that mark.
He's 24. The Sox are spinning their wheels in the Central. Montgomery is the one piece on that roster you'd build around without hesitation. He gave the White Sox something to talk about on the bus ride back.
The Yankees are 45-27, Judge gets back sometime in July, and there's a third game Thursday to wrap up the series. Eight in nine -- and they're not exactly working for it.
Jimmy writes the Bronx Pinstripes game recap after every Yankees game. Beat-reporter pacing, fan's heartbeat. He calls opposing players by last name and has no patience for dead-air innings.
