Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees, Held to Two Hits on Offense, Beat White Sox to Win Series

Two hits, five walks, a wild pitch and a gem from Nestor Cortes allowed the Yankees to cruise to their latest win over the White Sox.

Max Goodman

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CHICAGO — The Yankees were held to two hits on Sunday afternoon in Chicago.

With some patience at the plate, and another masterful performance from starter Nestor Cortes, those two hits were more than enough.

New York scored five runs while Cortes baffled Chicago's lineup, throwing eight innings for the first time in his career, in a 5-1 victory. 

The Yankees did most of their damage early on, pushing across three runs (on just one hit) in the second frame.

White Sox starter Michael Kopech walked four batters in the inning, including both No. 9 hitter Aaron Hicks and leadoff man DJ LeMahieu with the bases loaded. Then, a wild pitch with Aaron Judge at the plate allowed backstop Jose Trevino to scamper home safely from third. 

"It's a scoring competition, not a hitting competition," manager Aaron Boone quipped after the victory. "So we'll take five any day. Look, Kopech is hard to score against. He hasn't given up much all season. So, we talk about finding ways to win games. Today our patience helped us, made him work."

Cortes, meanwhile, was locked in from the start. He gave up a base hit in the first before retiring 15 batters in a row. In the fourth, he struck out the side on 10 pitches, nearly registering his second immaculate inning of the season. 

Even as his pitch count slowly began to rise, Yankees manager Aaron Boone stuck with his lefty through the seventh. Outfielder Adam Engel put Chicago on the board with a solo shot on a slider below the zone with one out in the inning, but that was all the White Sox could manage against him.

Right-hander Clay Holmes pitched the ninth for the Yankees, and it would've been a save situation if not for Joey Gallo's two-run blast in the top of the frame. His fifth home run of the year gave New York just a little more insurance, plating Josh Donaldson who—you guessed it—walked moments before Gallo stepped up to the plate.

Winning three of four games in Chicago, the Yankees are victorious in each of their last eight completed series. Their 25-9 record is the best in Major League Baseball.

Next up for the Bombers is a four-game set against the Orioles. Luis Severino will take the ball for New York on Monday night in Baltimore against righty Kyle Bradish.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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