Rosario, Jones power Yankees past Cubs 2-0
- Davis Cornell
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The Yankees shut out the Cubs 2-0 to open this three-game series and snap the Yankees' two-game losing streak. Will Warren got the start for the Yankees and faced off against Shota Imanaga.
Paul Goldschmidt, Ben Rice and Amed Rosario went three up, three down in the top half of the first inning.
Warren faced the minimum in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a 3-6-3 inning-ending double play.
In the bottom of the third inning, Warren allowed a two-out double to No. 9 hitter Miguel Amaya, but notched his fifth strikeout of the game to end the inning.
The Yankees jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning thanks to a 450-foot bomb from Rosario to deep left-center field, his 10th of the year.
Warren worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 shutdown bottom of the fourth inning on just eight pitches.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, Spencer Jones took Imanaga deep for his first career home run against a left-hander to make it 2-0.
“I mean, Imanaga was doing a really good job mixing it up against everybody, changing eye levels, and for me it was just to be on a fastball, and then I got one I could handle,” Jones said.
The White Sox went down in order against Warren in the bottom of the fifth as he worked a shutdown inning and notched his sixth punchout of the game.
José Caballero dunked a bloop single into left field to lead off the sixth inning. But unfortunately, Goldy bounced into a double play.
Warren worked another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth and recorded his seventh strikeout of the ballgame.
Warren quickly picked up the first two outs of the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to a nice diving play from Goldy at first, then Warren allowed back-to-back singles. Paul Blackburn replaced Warren with runners on first and second with two outs and picked up the final out on a groundout after review to keep the Yankees' lead intact.
Final line for Warren: 6.2 shutout innings, four hits allowed, no walks, and seven strikeouts on 88 pitches. He threw his changeup 27% of the time, the fastball 26%, the sweeper 23%, the curveball 16%, and the sinker 8%. Warren topped out at 94.6 mph, averaging 93 on his heater, and had 10 whiffs.
“I think it's just trusting stuff in the zone, getting ahead,” Warren said. “Obviously, last week was the opposite. We weren't ahead. That kind of puts us on our heels. And when we attack the zone early, you're forcing them to make swings that they might not necessarily want to make. And it usually results in our favor.”
Jones and Austin Wells, who pinch-hit for Ali Sánchez, each worked walks to open the eighth inning. But Caballero laid down a failed sac bunt, then Goldy and Rice both struck out to strand Wells and Jones.
Blackburn remained in the game for the bottom of the eighth and struck out the side in order in a huge bounce-back after giving up a couple of homers on Wednesday.
The Yankees closer David bednar got the call for the bottom of the ninth and allowed a one-out single to bring the tying run to the plate. But Bednar picked up the final two outs to pick up his 23rd save of the season and give the Yankees the win.
The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Max Fried on the mound facing off against David Peterson. First pitch is slated for 7:15 p.m. ET on FOX.
My thoughts on the game: Great win from the Yankees today. Beautiful start from Warren; could very well be his best start of the season so far. Blackburn picked up four huge outs with three strikeouts; he is quickly turning into one of the Yankees' most reliable arms. Bednar picked up the final three outs to pick up the save. The Yankees' offense didn't do much, but thankfully they did just enough with two runs and four hits. Rosario hit an absolute moon shot 450 feet away to get the scoring started for the Yankees. And Jones hit a bullet of a home run for his fourth career bomb. Jones is starting to heat up, which the Yankees' offense desperately needs; he now has a 109 wRC+ and a .743 OPS. Great win today; now hopefully Brian Cashman will make a trade tonight, with the deadline quickly approaching at 6 p.m. ET on Monday. On to tomorrow as the Yankees will look to win the series with Fried making his third start off the IL.
“Just going back to who I am and throwing nasty stuff up there, honestly,” Warren said. “I think I had fun today for the first time in a long time, which is good."
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