Caballero’s walk-off clinches the Yankees’ Playoff berth in 3-2 win over the White Sox

New York—The Yankees walked off the White Sox in a 3-2 nail-biter to punch their tickets to October. Luis Gil got the starting nod for the Yankees and faced off against all-star Shane Smith.

In the top of the first inning, Gil worked around a one-out walk thanks to a pair of strikeouts to put together a scoreless frame. 

Aaron Judge worked a one-out walk in the bottom of the first inning. A couple of batters later, Ben Rice stayed hot with a line drive single to right field to allow Judge to go first to third. However, Giancarlo Stanton struck out looking to strand runners at the corners. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr. worked a leadoff walk in the bottom of the second inning, then swiped second base for his 31st stolen base of the year. Anthony Volpe then shot a one-out single to right field to put runners at the corners; Volpe is now 7-for-17 since his cortisone shot. The next batter, Austin Wells, ripped an RBI double down the first base line to put the Yankees ahead 1-0. 

Ryan McMahon made a beautiful barehanded play with some help from Rice, with a great pick at first base to help Gil work a scoreless third inning. 

Gil worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 top of the fourth inning on just six pitches to help get his pitch count in much better shape after throwing 58 pitches through the first three innings. 

In the top of the fifth inning, Gil retired the White Sox in order on six pitches for the second straight inning to make it seven straight retired. 

Some miscommunication from Trent Grisham and Judge allowed a ball to drop in between them. The next batter, Colson Motgomerey, made the Yankees pay for their mistake, launching a two-run bomb to give the White Sox a 2-1 lead. 

Jazz led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a sharply hit single to right field, his second knock of the game. But Jazz ended up getting picked off, and Amed Rosario, who pinch hit for McMahon as well as Volpe, struck out. 

Fernando Cruz replaced Gil in the top of the seventh and navigated around a two-out single to put together a scoreless inning. 

Luis Gils' final line: Six innings pitched, four hits allowed, two earned runs, two walks, three swings and misses, and three strikeouts on 89 pitches. Gil threw his fastball over half the time at 64%, the slider 20%, and the changeup 16% of the time. Gil was decent tonight; he was not getting enough whiffs with only three, and his fastball velocity was way down, averaging just 93.7 mph on the heater. 

"It was a way to command the pitches, you know, this game, like I said, it was really important to us to get into the Playoffs, so executing pitches was the key tonight," Gil said about his velocity being down.

Tim Hill took over for Cruz in the top of the eighth inning, picked up the first two outs, and served up a single. Luke Weaved replaced Hill on the mound and picked up the third out to strand a runner at first base. 

Rice lined a single to left center field with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, his third hit of the ballgame. A couple of batters later, Jazz lined a two-out single into the right field corner, his third knock of the night. A wild pitch allowed Jazz to move up to second, but Rosario struck out looking at a fastball right down the middle. 

"I feel like I'm very proud, but I feel like I'd be prouder with a ring on my finger and saying that we won the World Series," Jazz said on his season.

Weaver remained in the game for the top of the ninth and immediately gave up a leadoff double, but was able to record the final three outs to keep it a one-run ballgame. 

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Volpe led things off with a single, and Wells followed that up with a single of his own. But for whatever reason, Grisham decided not to lay down a bunt and instead grounded into a double play. After Judge was intentionally walked, a wild pitch allowed Volpe to come across to score and tie the game up at 2-2, and Cody Bellinger worked a walk. The next batter, José Caballero, dunked in a walk-off RBI single to clinch the Yankees' spot in the playoffs for the 60th time in franchise history. 

"It's a big moment for me. We needed the win. It's the game to clinch the postseason. Here it comes," Caballero said just before getting a Gatorade shower from his teammates.

"We got all the talent in the world, but I think it's just the mindset of this team," Judge said. "Even going back to the game tonight, where we got an early lead, you know, we lose it, but I think the guys all the way down the last strike knew we were gonna win that game. So, we're just about having that grit and determination and just knowing that we're gonna pull out every single game as long as we trust each other." 

The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Max Fried making his final start of the regular season; the White Sox starter is still TBD. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: Huge win for the Yankees in a game where the offense looked lifeless for eight innings against one of the worst teams in baseball; they stepped up when it mattered the most. The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays tonight, so the Yankees are now just one game back in the AL East, technically two since the Jays own the tie breaker. Gil was solid tonight, but his velocity being down and only having three whiffs tonight is definitely concerning. Cruz, Hill, and Weaver did their jobs out of the bullpen, combining for three shutout innings with two strikeouts. 11 hits from the Yankees offense tonight, including three from Rice, three from Jazz, two from Volpe, two from Wells, and the game-winner from Caballero. What a win, on to tomorrow as the Yankees have to win every game from here on out if they want to find a way to win the division. 

"We've got a couple hours before tomorrow, so we're going to celebrate tonight, and then as soon as the clock strikes midnight, it's time to go out there and try to win a division," Judge said.