The Yankees arrived home Friday and put their recent surge to the test by welcoming the American League’s top team to The Bronx.
While the Yankees’ dominant starting pitching held up, their bats faced an equally daunting task before delivering just in time.
In a game that featured 26 total strikeouts and a timely triple play, it seemed only fitting that it ended in a walk-off as Gleyber Torres came through in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Yankees to their fourth straight win, 2-1 over the White Sox at Yankee Stadium.
Torres, who had homered two innings earlier to break a scoreless tie, roped a single to score Aaron Judge from second base and send the season-high crowd of 14,011 into a roar.
“We felt like we were playing a postseason game,” Torres said. “ [This was] the type of game we enjoy.”
The Yankees used an around-the-horn triple play to get out of the top of the ninth inning unscathed. The first two White Sox reached against Aroldis Chapman before Andrew Vaughn grounded a hard chopper to third base. Gio Urshela scooped it up, quickly shuffled a few feet to step on third and threw to second baseman Rougned Odor, who turned and fired to first baseman Luke Voit to finish off the defensive gem — the Yankees’ first triple play since 2014.
Gleyber Torres (center) is mobbed by teammates after belting a game-winning single in the Yankees’ 2-1 win over the White Sox. N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg“That’s an energy giver right there,” manager Aaron Boone said “That was a special turn by the fellas.”
It got the crowd buzzing and the Yankees carried the momentum into the bottom of the inning. Judge and Urshela led off with singles before Torres’ game-winner.
The Yankees (26-19) were coming off back-to-back shutout wins, and Montgomery pushed their scoreless streak to 29 innings with seven shutout frames of his own. He struck out a career-high 11 and walked none, mowing down a White Sox lineup that entered the series second in MLB scoring 5.29 runs per game and third in batting average (.260) and OPS (.759).
“No one’s going to be the one to want to finish it,” Montgomery said of the starters’ scoreless streak, which stands at 23 innings and gets handed to Gerrit Cole on Saturday.
The White Sox (26-17) countered with Carlos Rodon, the lefty who threw a no-hitter last month, and he began Friday’s game with five straight strikeouts. He finished with 13 punchouts, but with his pitch count at 95, manager Tony La Russa pulled him after six scoreless innings.
Torres jumped on Michael Kopech in the bottom of the seventh for a solo home run to the short porch in right field to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
But Jonathan Loaisiga coughed up the lead in the top of the eighth, after walking pinch-hitter Adam Eaton, the leadoff batter. Eaton eventually scored to tie it 1-1 when Nick Madrigal stuck out his bat for a bloop single.
The Yankees had a prime chance to take the lead back in the bottom half of the inning — runners on the corners with no outs — but wasted it. DJ LeMahieu grounded into his second fielder’s choice of the night that got a runner thrown out at home, with White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson gunning down Tyler Wade at the plate for the first out.
Luke Voit followed by ripping a line drive to third base. Yoan Moncada caught the liner and threw to second for the double play.
But the Yankees got the last laugh with both their defense and bats, making sure Montgomery’s standout performance didn’t go to waste.
“You gotta be able to win these games,” Boone said. “It’s not always gonna be easy. … Right now, it’s challenging [offensively] and the guys are playing really good when it matters.”
