Yankees take down White Sox 10-2, move into second place in AL East

Chicago—The Yankees dominated the White Sox 10-2 to win their sixth straight game and improve to 75-60. Carlos Rodon got the start for the Yankees, making his return to the South Side of Chicago, and faced off against former Yankee Yoendrys Gómez.

"Yeah, I was just, I mean, it's been a while," Rodon said on his return to Chicago. "I was just trying to make sure I went to the right dugout. I haven't stepped on that mountain in a while, but it was a pleasure to be back."

Trent Grisham worked a leadoff walk to start the ballgame thanks to a generous ball call that should have been strike three. Aaron Judge followed that up with a walk of his own to put two runners on with nobody out. Grisham and Judge pulled off a double steal to put two runners in scoring position, then Cody Bellinger worked a walk to load the bases with no outs. Ben Rice bounced into a double play, but Grisham did come across to score to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. 

In the bottom of the first inning, Rodon worked around a leadoff walk, which should have been a strikeout, but the home plate ump blew another call, and put together a scoreless inning. 

Austin Wells led off the top of the third inning with a line drive single to left field. A couple of batters later, Judge worked a four-pitch walk. However, Belli flew out to center, and Rice popped out in foul territory to strand two runners on base. 

Giancoroalo Stanton reached via a catcher's interference to lead off the top of the fourth inning, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed that up with a walk. A couple of batters later, Austin Wells worked a two-out walk to load the bases. The next batter, Grisham, launched a grand slam, his 28th home run of the season, to make it a 5-0 game. 

"Yeah, I'm looking for a fastball," Grisham said. "Yeah, when we're on offense, I try to play offense, not really trying to be passive. So yeah, in that count, that situation, I was looking for a fastball." 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Rodon faced the minimum thanks to a 6-4-3 double play and recorded his third strikeout of the night. 

The White Sox got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning via an RBI fielder's choice from Chase Meidroth to make it a 5-1 game.

Jazz worked a leadoff walk in the top of the sixth inning, then stole second base to become the sixth Yankee in the history of the franchise ever to have a 25-stolen-base and 25 home run season. Jazz joined Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, Rickey Henderson, and Bobby Bonds. Ryan McMahon followed that up with a walk of his own. The next batter, Anthony Volpe, picked up an RBI single to make it a 6-1 game. Then Austin Wells came through with an RBI single of his own to make it a 7-1 game. A couple of batters later, Rice lined a two-out RBI single to left field to make it an 8-1 game. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Rodon gave up a couple of singles but picked up his fifth strikeout of the ballgame to help work into and out of trouble. 

MaMahon lined a single to right field in the top of the seventh inning. The next batter, Volpe, crushed a two-run bomb, his 19th home run of the year, to make it a 10-1 game. 

Fernando Cruz replaced Rodon on the mound in the bottom half of the seventh inning and worked around a leadoff single, picked up a strikeout, and put together a scoreless frame. 

Carlos Rodon's final line: six innings pitched, seven hits allowed, one earned run, two walks, 11 swings and misses, and five strikeouts on 97 pitches. Rodon relied heavily on the fastball tonight, throwing it over half the time at 55%, the slider 22%, the changeup 18%, the sinker 5%, and the curveball 1% of the time. Rodon was solid tonight; he didn't get a ton of swing and misses on his off-speed pitches, but he did give up seven hits. However, he did a great job of holding the White Sox to just one run. 

"You know, I thought Austin called a great game," Rodon said. “Defensively, we played well. And once again, the offense does it again, swings the bats, and makes it easy for the pitchers to go out there and attack the zone and get outs." 

Tim Hill took over for Cruz in the bottom of the eighth and gave up a leadoff double followed by a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. A couple of batters later, former Yankee Andrew Benintendi delivered an RBI single to make it a 10-2 game. 

Camilo Doval came in and replaced Hill in the bottom of the ninth inning and worked a scoreless inning to end this one 10-2 and give the Yankees a season-high six-game win streak. 

"I think we just get enjoyment out of collectively doing it as a unit," Grisham said. "Just putting together good at bat, good at bat, good, I think, like you say, it wears people down, and we enjoy that." 

The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Cam Schlittler on the mound, facing off against Shane Smith. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET on the YES Network. 

My thoughts on the game: With the Yankees winning tonight and the Red Sox and the Blue Jays both losing, the Yankees are back in second place in the AL East, a half game ahead of the Sox and only three games back from the Blue Jays. Rodon was solid in his return to the South Side of Chicago. The offense showed up yet again with 10 runs, seven hits, and nine walks. Grisham led the charge with a grand slam as his career year continues. Volpe had a second great night offensively in a row with a two-run home run and an RBI single. The bullpen also did their job as Cruz, Hill, and Doval recorded the final nine outs tonight. On to tomorrow as the Yankees will look to win the series with Cam on the mound, who has been a lot of fun to watch pitch. 

"So far, so good," Grisham said on his career year. "We've got a lot left, a lot of important games left, but so far, so good."