About Last Night: Yankees 10, White Sox 2

The Big Story

The Yankees successfully executed another romp against the soft underbelly of Major League Baseball, thrashing the White Sox 10-2 in Chicago on Friday night. The Yankees' offense faced off against former Yankee top prospect, Yoendrys Gomez, who has moved into a starting role for the White Sox after appearances exclusively out of the bullpen for both the Yankees and the Dodgers. While Gomez had produced decent results in his first 3 starts for Chicago, he didn't get as lucky against his old club in his 4th start of the season.

The Yankees quickly loaded the bases in the top of the first inning, with each of Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger drawing walks, though Bellinger's walk came only after Judge and Grisham executed a successful double-steal (!). With the bases loaded, Ben Rice grounded into a first pitch double-play, though Grisham did score on the play to put the Yanks up 1-0. Stanton ended the inning with a hard liner on a low and away sinker that he somehow pulled to the hole between SS and 3B. The White Sox's SS, Colson Montgomery, made a nice running catch to snag it to end the threat. With Gomez on the ropes, the Yankees got a bit too aggressive at the plate when they should have let Gomez continue to beat himself.

The Yankees continued to work themselves in and out of scoring chances until the 4th inning. The Yankees again loaded the bases against Gomez. Stanton reached on an obvious catcher's interference that the Yankees, for some reason, needed to challenge in order to get Stanton to first base. Jazz Chisholm and Austin Wells both worked walks to bring Trent Grisham to the plate with 2 outs. Trent Grisham opened the floodgates with an absolutely majestic shot on a 2-0 fastball right over the heart of the plate to right-center field for a huge grand slam that gave the Yankees a 5-0 lead that would never be relinquished. From there, the Yankees continued to tack on to their lead throughout the game as Carlos Rodon pitched a steady, if not dominant game.

Anthony Volpe was at the center of the run scoring in the game's second half, as he opened the 3-run sixth with an RBI single on a hard liner into CF. After a run-scoring infield single by Austin Wells, Ben Rice smacked a rope through the left side for an RBI single, giving the Yanks an 8-1 lead. In the following inning, Anthony Volpe snuck a hard shot over the wall in right-center to give the Yankees a 10-1 lead.

Carlos Rodon never appeared dominant in this start, but he was more than good enough to navigate a soft White Sox lineup. Rodon showed good stuff, mixing speeds with his fastball, snapping off some sharp sliders, and mixing pitches when he needed to. Rodon worked into and out of trouble multiple times, escaping with just one run against in the bottom of the 5th on an infield single (a play in which the Yankees probably should have made the out). Aaron Boone came out to get Rodon with 2 outs in the 6th, and as we've seen previously this season, Boone gave Rodon a chance to get one more out, and went back into the dugout. Rodon rewarded Boone's confidence by getting the strikeout to end his solid outing, pitching with smoke coming out of his ears, but finishing the batter off with a smart change-up with the hitter clearly hunting a fastball.

The bullpen would go on to allow another late run, but it was an easy win for the Yanks. The win gave the Yanks their first 6-game winning streak of the season.

Player of the Game

Anthony Volpe has to get the nod here, given how badly he has struggled against all manner of competition. Volpe went 2-4, with 2 R, 3 RBIs, and 1 HR.

Notable Performances

Grisham: 1-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 Grand Slam, 1 SB

Judge: 3 BB, 1 SB

Wells: 2-3, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 R

Chisholm: 0-3, 2 BB, 1 SB (25 on the season), 2 R

Rice, 1-5, 1 RBI

McMahon: 1-4, 2 R, 1 BB

Rodon: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 ER

Better to Forget

Bellinger went 0-3 with a walk, but didn't get in on the scoring action

My Take

This was a strong, decisive win, and it feels good to watch the Yanks play good baseball. It's good to see the Yanks, particularly struggling players like Volpe, Wells, and McMahon get in on the action. The Yanks need the full lineup humming as they enter the buzz saw of the American League next week against Houston and the Jays. It doesn't feel like they should be 3 games back of the Jays, but they are, and if it holds through the weekend, the Yanks have a chance to regain the AL East next week. As Aaron Boone says about his team, it's all right in front of them.

Looking to Today

The Yanks take on the Sox tonight at 7:10. Cam Schlittler will look to continue his dominant rookie run for the Yanks against Shane Smith, a rare White Sox starter putting a good season together on the mound. Let's hope the Yanks make it 7 in a row.