Yankees 2, Cubs 1, and for once the final score tells you almost everything you need to know. José Caballero hit the only home run of the day, Gerrit Cole and three relievers made it hold up, and the Yanks left Wrigley with the series in hand.
It wasn't pretty. It didn't need to be.
The Blast That Held Up
Ryan McMahon led off the third with a sharp single to right, and two pitches later Caballero turned on a 1-0 fastball from Colin Rea and put it 408 feet into center field. Exit velocity: 106.6 mph. That's his 11th of the year, and it's also the entire scoring output the Yankees would get for the rest of the afternoon.
Cubs got one back in the bottom of the 4th -- Seiya Suzuki doubled, Michael Busch singled him home off Cole -- and that was it. 2-1 final. Nobody hit another ball out of the yard all game (confirmed, checked the play log twice).
Wrigley wind was blowing in from left at 13 mph on an overcast afternoon, which made the ball Caballero hit even more impressive. Center field's usually the toughest cut in that park on a day like that. He put it there anyway.
Cabby's Day
Caballero finished 2-for-3 with the homer, two RBI, and a run scored, adding a clean single off Pete Crow-Armstrong in center in the 7th for good measure. Five total bases on the day, and it's the kind of line that makes a manager stop worrying about where to hit you in the order.
Cabby wasn't the loudest tool in the box score. He was the only one that mattered.
McMahon's leadoff single, Amed Rosario's single, and a Jasson Domínguez single rounded out the box score. Five hits total, one of them leaving the yard. Not exactly a laugher. Just enough.
Cole, Then a Parade of Arms
Cole got the win (he's 5-5 now) but it wasn't clean: 5.2 innings, 4 hits, an earned run, three walks, five strikeouts, 99 pitches. He left with the bases loaded and two outs in the 6th after a walk, a single, and another walk turned a comfortable inning into a mess.
Brent Headrick came in cold and got Nico Hoerner to fly out to center to end it. All three inherited runners stranded. That's the ballgame right there, even if nobody in Chicago wants to hear it.
Paul Blackburn walked two of the first three batters he faced in the 8th (not his best afternoon), and David Bednar had to enter with two outs and runners on the corners. He got Ian Happ to fly out, then came back for the ninth and worked around a one-out walk to Pedro Ramírez to close it -- four outs, no hits allowed, save number 24.
Rea took the loss despite seven strikeouts over six innings. He's now 8-8 on a Cubs team that isn't giving him much margin for one bad pitch. Take away the Caballero swing and he pitches a shutout. That's baseball for you -- one mistake pitch, ballgame.
Boone's Quick Hook
Pulling Cole with two outs in the 6th and the bases loaded is an easy call to second-guess if it goes wrong. It didn't. Headrick got the out, and Boone rode the bullpen the rest of the way -- Headrick, Blackburn, Bednar, four outs from the closer instead of the usual three. Nobody complains about a save chart that says "S, 24" the next morning.
Looking Ahead
Yankees take the series 2-1 at Wrigley and head home 63-49, still 2.5 back of Tampa Bay in the East (Boston's 5.5 back, so this isn't a two-team race yet). They dropped Saturday's game 5-2 before Sunday's response, which is about the most Yankees way possible to close out a road trip.
The Cardinals come to the Bronx next for three, starting Monday. Two runs was enough today. It won't be enough every day.
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.
