Following the Yankees’ win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday, New York manager Aaron Boone said his team can win in a number of ways, including scoring often late in games.
After opening their four-game series Thursday against the host Chicago White Sox by scoring eight times in the final two innings, the Yankees seek a fifth straight win when the teams meet again Friday night.
New York is 16-2 in its past 18 games and its 23-8 start is its best since 2003. The Yankees have scored 62 of their 150 runs in the seventh inning or beyond after scoring nine times in their final three innings of a 15-7 win over the White Sox on Thursday.
The late explosion came after Yankees reliever Jonathan Loaisiga gave up a tying three-run homer to Yoan Moncada in the seventh.
“It’s something we’ve been doing all year,” New York right fielder Aaron Judge said. “It speaks volumes to the type of guys we have in this clubhouse. It doesn’t matter what the score is.”
Judge hit his major-league-leading 11th homer in the seventh against Ryan Burr and a two-run, tiebreaking infield single off Joe Kelly in New York’s seven-run eighth. Giancarlo Stanton, who has seven homers and 20 RBIs in his past 14 games, hit a pair of two-run homers off Dylan Cease and a two-run single off Tanner Banks in the eighth.
The Yankees scored in six innings, had nine players score runs and drew seven walks.
“It’s great,” Boone said. “We’ve talked about winning in different ways and finding ways to win, and tonight was a little bit of different. We gave up some runs and kept pouring on, so just a great job by the offense tonight.”
Chicago is 7-3 in its past 10 games overall but also 1-8 in its past nine games against the Yankees. While Moncada homered, Chicago’s other big names did little Thursday. Tim Anderson, Jose Abreu and Luis Robert were a combined 1-for-14.
Chicago is coming off its worst pitching performance of the season as it allowed season-high totals of runs and hits (15).
“I mean, you had to see it to believe it,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “I still don’t believe it.
Gerrit Cole (2-0, 2.67 ERA), who is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA in his past three outings, will start for the Yankees on Friday. He allowed one run on five hits in 6 1/3 innings and struck out 10 in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Texas Rangers on Sunday. He wound up with a no-decision after allowing Kole Calhoun’s tying homer on his final pitch.
Cole is 2-1 with a 3.79 ERA in three career starts against the White Sox. He last faced them May 22, 2021, in New York, when he allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings.
Chicago will send Vince Velasquez (2-2, 3.97 ERA) to the mound. In his past two starts, Velasquez went 2-0 with a 0.84 ERA while limiting opponents to a .189 average (7-for-37). He last pitched on May 6 in Boston, where he allowed one run on three hits in five innings.
Velasquez is 0-1 with a 3.26 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the Yankees. He last faced them on June 12, 2021, in Philadelphia, when he allowed two runs in five innings.
–Field Level Media