With the bottom of their order and a few short porch homers helping their cause, the Yankees notched their second straight sweep with a 7-2 win over the woeful White Sox on Sunday.
No. 9 hitter Jon Berti provided the go-ahead blast in the fourth inning, breaking a 2-2 tie with a three-run, 366-foot homer off of Chicago’s Chris Flexen. The infielder took advantage of Yankee Stadium’s short porch, as the former Marlin’s first home run of the season — and in pinstripes — would have only gone out in one other stadium: Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park.
Aaron Judge then padded the Yankees’ lead with his own wall-scraper, hitting a two-run shot 339 feet to right in the fifth inning. The ball would not have gone over the fence at any other stadium, but Judge nonetheless smacked his 13th homer of the season.
The captain is now tied with Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker and Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani for the second-most longballs in the majors. Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson leads the way with 15.
Earlier, in the second inning, Jose Trevino tied the game at two with a two-run single from the eighth spot in the order. The catcher, robbed of a home run by Corey Julks in the sixth inning, is now hitting .284 this season after going 1-for-4 on Sunday.
“He’s got that knack for giving a really tough at-bat in a big spot,” manager Aaron Boone predictively said of Trevino before the game.
Prior to Trevino’s single, the Yankees were looking at an early hole after Carlos Rodón endured a bumpy second inning.
Julks started the day’s scoring with a solo home run, his first of the year, before Zach Remillard hit an RBI triple off the wall in left. However, Trevino helped Rodón stop the bleeding when he picked Remillard off at third to end the inning.
Rodón settled in nicely after that, refusing to allow another run over six total innings. He faced some additional trouble in the fourth frame, but the lefty struck out three straight hitters to strand runners on first and second.
Rodón finished the game with six strikeouts, two walks and four hits allowed. He now has a 3.27 ERA, a welcome sight after the pitcher’s first season with the Yankees turned into an injury-riddled disaster.
“Some guys don’t respond well. He has,” Boone said of Rodón, who had a 6.85 ERA over 14 starts last season. “Credit to him for saying, ‘That’s not me or my expectation.’ He’s put in the work to put himself in a position. Doesn’t mean you’re always successful. But do everything you can to put yourself in a position to get the most out of your talent, and I feel really good about what Carlos has done.”
Now winners of seven straight, the Yankees will start a four-game set with the Mariners, a fellow first-place club, on Monday. The Bombers face a tough slate of pitchers, as Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo are all scheduled to start during the series.
Marcus Stroman, Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes and Luis Gil are lined up for the Yankees.
