- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,252,851
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 27: Ali Sánchez #39 of the New York Yankees celebrates with his teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the eighth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on July 27, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jessie Alcheh/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It wasn’t a pretty opening to the series, but the Yankees found their way Monday night in Chicago. Max Fried struggled mightily in his second start returning from the IL, putting them in a big hole early with an offense that hasn’t been prone to exploding lately, but a pair of big innings turned this game from a deficit to a 9-5 win.
Last time out Fried was extremely sharp, going five strong despite a low pitch limit blanking the Pirates with just a single hit and walk going against him. Randal Grichuk greeted him with a leadoff double, and the wheels fell off from there. Munetaka Murakami followed up with a single to put runners on the corners, and after Fried struck out Miguel Vargas for the first out of the inning Colson Montgomery ripped a single to the right side that Jazz Chisholm Jr. barely couldn’t corral scoring Grichuk. Chase Meridoth was up next and lifted a sacrifice fly to bring in a second run, and then Braden Montgomery lined a triple over the head of a diving Max Schuemann that brought in a third. It looked like Schuemann might’ve gotten messed up leaping for the ball, which would’ve complicated things for a Yankees team that is already down two of their starting outfielders, but thankfully he shook it off and stayed in the game.
View Link
Fried calmed down from there, working two straight clean frames, but the Yankee offense wasn’t getting anything going at first against the rookie Noah Schultz, who entered the game with a gaudy 6.04 ERA. Paul Goldschmidt managed a two-out single in the top of the first, but the lineup otherwise went down in order the first time through. The fourth inning finally saw them break though, starting off with a pair of walks from Ben Rice and Goldschmidt to set up a rally. Jasson Domínguez singled to left but it was hit hard enough to prevent a run from coming in, bringing Anthony Volpe up with the bases loaded and no outs. Volpe managed to bring in a run, hitting a soft grounder to short that Luisangel Acuña was just barely able to scoop up and throw to first in time to convert an out from the play.
That would be all for Schultz, as the White Sox went to their ‘pen and brought in Chris Murphy. The tide was turning though, and Chisholm provided the big blow of the inning with a double out to center to tie the game at three. Chisholm then stole third base on a head’s up play noticing that the catcher was lazily flicking the ball back to the pitcher, and José Caballero walked to pass the baton over to Spencer Jones. Jones managed to convert, fighting off three foul balls before grounding a ball in front of Caballero who was running on the pitch to prevent a double play opportunity and give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.
View Link
Angel Chivilli entered the game in place of Fried to start the fourth inning, ending his night early. Chivilli worked around a two-out single to keep the newfound lead intact, but Tim Hill wasn’t as lucky in the fifth. Vargas hit a one-out double and Colson Montgomery singled to bring him in and knot us at four, bringing Fernando Cruz out to hold things down. Cruz managed to escape without any further damage, walking a batter but getting pinch-hitter Tristan Peters to ground out.
The seventh inning was an adventure of miscues for the White Sox in both halves. In the top of the inning Amed Rosario led off with a double, and when he strayed off the bag a little too far catcher Edgar Quero attempted to pick him off. His throw ended up hitting Rosario though and bounced into the outfield, allowing him to take third base instead. The next two Yankees made outs and nearly squandered the chance, but Ben Rice came through with an RBI single to retake the lead. Then in the bottom half, Colson Montgomery managed a two-out single to keep the frame alive and Meridoth ripped a double to left. Schuemann fired the ball back in to Volpe, and even though his throw home was a two-bouncer it was still easily in time to down Montgomery by about five steps at the plate.
View Link
The Yankees held a slim 5-4 lead entering the eighth inning, but they’d walk out of it with several insurance runs. Domínguez and Volpe both singled to lead off, and then Chisholm laid down a push bunt that would’ve already been good enough for a hit, but reliever Sean Newcomb threw too far off the bag at first allowing Domínguez to score. Jazz then stole second base, his 29th steal of the season, before Trent Grisham hit a grounder to first that got thrown home. Volpe had a good slide to make it a close play at the plate, but even after a replay challenge he remained out.
Ali Sánchez stepped up to the plate and delivered the finishing blow, a shocking three-run blast to left for his first career home run after six years sporadically spent in the majors.
View Link
The insurance ended up mattering, because Camilo Doval was tasked with handling the ninth inning and the defense didn’t help him. Doval got Andrew Benintendi to strike out to start, but Caballero mishandled a ball to put the first runner aboard. Doval then walked Murakami, got an out away by inducing a lineout from Vargas, and then got Montgomery to pop up for what should’ve been the final out. Volpe called everyone off in shallow center but dropped the ball, allowing the lead runner to score and forcing Aaron Boone to go to his closer David Bednar for the final out. Bednar shut things down, striking out Meidroth to end it and convert the save, but this was a game where they surely didn’t want to waste his bullets after needing him for the fourth time in six games.
With the opener in hand, the Yankees will send Gerrit Cole to the mound looking to secure at least a split tomorrow, going up against Anthony Kay. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. EST.
Box Score
Continue reading...
