Each at-bat is taking on extra importance as the New York Yankees move closer to the end of the regular season. On Thursday, Giancarlo Stanton delivered a key moment in the fifth inning with a three-run double down the third-base line, giving the Yankees a lead they held onto in their 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium. This victory completed a three-game sweep and kept New York tied with Toronto for first place in the American League East.
With their record now at 91-68, the Yankees have won five straight games and are 23 games above .500, their best mark of the year. The Blue Jays also won on Thursday, maintaining their hold on a tiebreaker against New York with both teams having three games left to play. The division winner will receive a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the AL Division Series—an advantage that benefited New York last year during its run to the World Series.
“The bye is always good,” said Stanton. “You’ve got guys that are beat up, that need a rest, a little mental break before how heavy those games can get. It’s ideal.”
Ben Rice contributed an RBI groundout in the first inning against Davis Martin, while Stanton’s hard-hit double off Tyler Gilbert brought in more runs for starter Carlos Rodón. Rodón pitched six innings, allowing three runs and four hits and earning his career-high 18th win.
“It was good enough. I just tried to attack the zone,” Rodón said. “There’s a couple of pitches I’d like back, but I’m happy with the win. I can’t be upset.”
Rodón gave up a two-run homer to Michael A. Taylor in the fourth but struck out five batters overall. His second-inning strikeout of Derek Hill made him only the sixth left-handed pitcher in Yankees history to reach 200 strikeouts in one season. He finished this year with 203 strikeouts.
Manager Aaron Boone noted Rodón’s consistent performance late in the season: “He has built himself quite a fire now.” Over his final ten outings, Rodón went 7-2 with a 2.52 ERA and ended with his best campaign yet for New York—33 starts and an ERA of 3.09.
Reflecting on his season, Rodón said: “It’s kind of hard to think about now, because we’ve got some pretty important games coming up, but it was good. I’m just glad I was able to go out there and post every five or six days, compete and try to win every game.”
Aaron Judge set an American League record by being intentionally walked twice during Thursday’s game—the 35th and 36th intentional walks he has received this season—surpassing Ted Williams’ previous record from 1957.
Austin Wells provided further offense with an RBI double in the seventh inning while relievers Luke Weaver, Devin Williams and David Bednar each threw scoreless innings.
“The bullpen has really stepped up lately and hung some zeroes,” said Rodón. “Hopefully we keep that going.”
Wells has been productive at bat recently as well; over his last eight games he is hitting .450 (nine hits in twenty at-bats).
“It feels pretty good,” Wells said. “I’m just trying to put the ball in play and trying not to hit it where they’re at. For me, I feel like it’s been working a little bit better than it did over the beginning of the year. I’m rolling with it.”
The Yankees face an uphill battle as they close out their schedule but remain focused on both their own performance against Baltimore (which stands at 75-84) and Toronto’s results versus Tampa Bay.
“They’re always a threat,” Stanton said about Baltimore’s team coming up next on their schedule. “We know we’ve got to go out and play well, execute and play good baseball.”
