About Yesterday: Déjà Vu All Over Again. White Sox 2, Yankees 1 in 11 Innings

About Yesterday: Déjà Vu All Over Again. White Sox 2 - Yankees 1 in 11 Innings

By Tim Kabel

July 31, 2026

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For the second day in a row, the Yankees lost a game in extra innings to the White Sox. Yesterday, they were literally walked off when Fernando Cruz walked in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. The Yankees were in a good spot on Tuesday, after winning the first two games against the White Sox. However, they had to settle for a split. They are now 4-3 on the road trip so far with three games left against the Cubs. 

The White Sox are now two games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians in in first place in the American League Central. The Yankees have now fallen 3 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay in the American League East.

Ryan Weathers was incredibly effective, pitching seven innings without allowing a run. He gave up three hits while striking out four and walking three.  Brent Headrick (of course) pitched yet another scoreless inning, striking out two and walking one. He lowered his ERA for the season to 1.30. Angel Chivilli allowed an unearned run in 1.1 innings. He struck out three and allowed two hits. His ERA for the season is 0.60.

The offense was again an issue. The Yankees scored one run in 11 innings. After the game, Aaron Boone was asked about the offense. He stated, “We have to score a freaking point.” The fact that they don't score points in baseball seems to have eluded Boone, which is frankly not surprising. Boone has become increasingly snippy with reporters and even chastised them for asking him about Giancarlo Stanton’s potential return. This is despite the fact that Boone is the one who indicated that Stanton should be back fairly soon. Maybe Boone needs to take Mary Poppins’ advice and take a spoonful of sugar before he deals with the reporters.

The Yankees had a total of six hits in the game. Trent Grisham had two of them, which equaled his total in the ten previous games. He is still batting .216 for the year with 11 home runs and 42 RBI. The other four hits came from Jasson Dominguez, Spencer Jones, Jazz Chisholm, and Austin Wells. The only extra base hits came from Wells and Dominguez. They both had doubles. Technically, Dominguez hit a triple in the sixth inning, but it was scored as a double because he over slid third base and was tagged out. That is something he is going to have to work on. He has tremendous speed and due to his very muscular frame, it seems difficult for him to slow his momentum when he slides.

As the Yankees head toward the trade deadline, which is Monday at 6:00 PM, in addition to missing Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton, they have Grisham batting .216, Jazz Chisholm batting .224, Ryan McMahon batting .208, and Austin Wells batting .162. The Yankees need to rely on pitching, defense, timely hitting, and sound fundamental baseball skills. The Yankees do not consistently receive any of those things, with the exception of pitching, and even that varies from game to game.

I have no idea what if any moves the Yankees will make before the trade deadline. There are nine million rumors floating around out there. One or two of them may come to fruition. The point is that unless the Yankees change their approach, which seems unlikely with Aaron Boone as the manager, they will probably not advance very far into the postseason and certainly do not appear to be capable of winning the World Series at this point. They are too sloppy and undisciplined to do so. Two nights ago, Ali Sanchez decided to pick off a runner at third base in the 11th inning, which allowed a run to score. That was indefensible. Yet, Aaron Boone defended it. The Yankees have not been a fundamentally sound team during the entire Boone era. Now that they are without Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton, that is hurting them more than ever. We saw that over the last two days in Chicago.

A Few Tidbits: 

·       The Yankees are now 25-25 since June first. That is the definition of mediocre.

·       Randal Grichuk did very little during his brief time with the Yankees this season and was released. Yesterday, he had two hits for the White Sox against the Yankees. That's baseball Suzyn.

·       Munetaka Murakami has reached base in a career high 16 straight games.

·       Chicago’s starting pitcher, Sean Burke, did not allow a run on three hits while striking out ten and walking two in six innings. This was his eighth straight outing in which he has been extremely effective. He is 4-1 with a 1.43 ERA during that stretch.

·       George Lombard, Junior had two more hits for Scranton on Wednesday night. There are rumors that he could be brought up to the Major League team once the dust settles from the trade deadline. That remains to be seen, but it does seem rather likely. The word is that the Yankees do not want to trade Lombard. If they don't, it would make sense to bring him to the Majors, particularly if Anthony Volpe is traded.

·       On July 30th, 1890, Charles Dillon “Casey” Stengel was born in Kansas City MO. My friend Roger, who occasionally babysat for him, said that he was a beautiful baby.

·       On July 30th, 1990, Commissioner Faye Vincent forced George Steinbrenner to step down as managing partner of the New York Yankees

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Today, the Yankees will open a three-game series against the Cubs at 2:20 PM at Wrigley Field. Will Warren, (7-5, 4.41 ERA) will pitch for the Yankees. Shota Imanaga, (7-8, 3.72 ERA) will pitch for the Cubs.