Yankees 3, White Sox 2, and Gerrit Cole did the heavy lifting for six innings before David Bednar made everybody sweat through the ninth.
Cole struck out seven over six scoreless innings at Rate Field, the Yankees scored all three of their runs on a four-batter burst in the second, and that looked like more than enough cushion right up until Chase Meidroth decided otherwise. The Yankees held on, 3-2, and moved to 61-46, a game and a half back of Tampa Bay in the AL East.
The Second Inning Did All the Work
Jasson Domínguez and Trent Grisham led off with back-to-back singles, and Anthony Volpe made them pay with a double to center that scored Domínguez and sent Grisham to third. Jazz Chisholm struck out for the first out, and then Max Schuemann ripped a ground-ball double to left that scored both runners. 3-0, just like that, on four batters and two doubles.
Anthony Kay settled in after that (he finished with three earned runs on five hits and seven strikeouts of his own across 5 1/3 innings), but the Yankees already had their runs. They didn't score again the rest of the night. They didn't need to.
Domínguez finished 2-for-3 with a stolen base, which is quietly becoming a habit for him. He's not just a bat in that lineup anymore -- he's a problem on the bases too, and White Sox pitchers spent the whole night aware of it.
Cole Looked Like Himself Again
Give the game ball to Cole (4-5): six scoreless innings, four hits, two walks, seven strikeouts, and his best start in a stretch of good ones since coming back from Tommy John surgery. This was his 12th start back, and it showed.
He backed it up with his glove too. Colson Montgomery popped one up in front of the mound in the second, the ball squirted loose off Cole's mitt, and he grabbed it barehanded before it hit the dirt for the first out of the inning. Doesn't show up in a box score. Kept the inning clean anyway.
His only real scare came in the fourth. Munetaka Murakami opened the inning with a double and Miguel Vargas walked, putting the first two White Sox hitters on with nobody out. Colson Montgomery flew out, Andrew Benintendi's groundout moved both runners into scoring position, and Braden Montgomery drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Cole got Tristan Peters to fly out to third and stranded all three -- the last real threat Chicago mounted against him all night. Aaron Boone had him at 99 pitches through six and went to the bullpen rather than let him chase a seventh -- fair, given everything Cole's already fighting his way back from this year.
Bednar Made It Interesting
David Bednar's line won't win any beauty contests -- two earned runs, a home run allowed, three strikeouts -- but a save's a save. He struck out Benintendi to open the ninth, then gave up a single to Braden Montgomery. Austin Wells challenged the call on a two-strike pitch to Peters and got it overturned to strikeout three -- two outs, Montgomery still standing on first, and it looked like a clean finish.
Then Meidroth turned on one and sent it 406 feet to left field, scoring Montgomery ahead of him. A laugher turned into a one-run save situation in the time it takes to round the bases.
(Up next: Everson Pereira, an ex-Yankee himself, pinch hitting with two outs and nobody on -- Chicago's last shot to make it interesting. Small world, and a lousy spot to be the guy trying to keep the night alive.)
Bednar struck him out swinging to end it. His 22nd save came with a lot more stress than it needed to, and it's fair to wonder if Angel Chivilli or Brent Headrick -- both of whom threw a clean inning of relief in between Cole and Bednar -- could've finished the ninth with less drama. That's a conversation for another night. Tonight, the Yankees just needed the out, and they got it.
Two in a row now for the Yankees, five of six if you're counting the bigger picture, and they've taken the first two of this four-game set at Rate Field with two left to play. Chicago's stuck at 1-4 on this homestand and fell to 55-51 on the season, and it's hard to see either trend reversing before Thursday.
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.
