CHICAGO — The Yankees took the first game of four against the White Sox 9-4 to win their 60th game of the season and improve to 60-46 overall. It took some offense, which was good to see, and a lot of mix-and-match from the Yankees’ bullpen to secure the win.
HITTING HIGHLIGHT: The Yankees were able to score four runs in the fourth inning. It started with two walks, and the Yankees played fundamental baseball in the inning, advancing runners and scoring them. It was refreshing to see the Yankees score in a way that was on with the home run ball for the second straight night.
They did use the long ball later in the game. After getting the lead back and capitalizing on some errors by the White Sox, Ali Sanchez, who has been in the big leagues for parts of six seasons, hit his first career home run, a three-run shot. It gave the Yankees a comfortable five-run lead in the eighth inning, allowing Aaron Boone and his staff to navigate the later innings without using closer David Bednar, who has been worked a lot as of late.
PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: Max Fried did not have his best stuff today by any means. His command, particularly with his sinker, was off. Fried only lasted three innings in this game, giving up three runs, allowing five hits and walking two.
Fried was not helped by the defense behind him in the first inning. There were multiple plays that should have been made that were not and could have helped Fried keep his pitch count down and give more innings. Fried is going to need to have better command as the season goes on, but he’s still working his way back from his injury and is not at full strength yet.
NOTABLE: The Yankees’ defense continues to cost them. Today, Fried was the victim of poor defense and fundamentals in a first inning where he threw over 30 pitches and surrendered three runs. Between Jazz Chisholm Jr. missing catching the ball at second base on a throw in from the outfield and former Yankee Randal Grichuk sliding into second base and Max Schuemann diving and the ball bouncing on the track for an RBI triple, the Yankees did not help Fried today.
Their defense did clutch up in the seventh inning with a perfect relay from Schuemann and Anthony Volpe to cut down a potential run at the plate and keep the Yankees’ lead in tact.
ALSO NOTABLE: The Yankees need to move on from Tim Hill. Hill has struggled for a majority of the season and is not getting better. The Yankees need better consistency from that spot in the bullpen and can’t afford to keep Hill in a spot where he can really only face left-handers, and even that is not at a high level. Hill should be a DFA candidate next week when new imports are brought in.
UP NEXT: The Yankees and the White Sox will play the second game of their four-game series. Gerrit Cole will get the start for the Yankees, with lefty Anthony Kay going for the White Sox. First pitch is at 7:40pm. TV: YES RADIO: WFAN
