The Yankees scored just enough runs behind Randy Vasquez to beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-0, in the second game of Thursday's doubleheader.
Takeaways
- Randy Vasquez was on the bump for his second career start and was better than his first. He walked and gave up a single in the first inning, but then retired 15 straight batters into the sixth inning when he ran into some more trouble.
After giving up a two-out single to Gavin Sheets, he hit Luis Robert Jr. with a pitch on a four-seamer that got away from him. That was enough for Aaron Boone, who pulled his young right-hander. Ron Marinaccio came in to get the final out of the inning and end the threat.
Vasquez finished after 5.2 innings pitched (86 pitches/54 strikes), giving up just two hits and one walk while striking out three batters. In his first two starts, the 24-year-old has given up just two runs and six hits in 10.1 innings pitched.
- Without Aaron Judge, the Yankees' stars did not come through in Game 1 but did so in the nightcap. Willie Calhoun, leading off for the second straight game, got the Yankees’ first hit in the fourth inning with a leadoff double. Gleyber Torres followed with a two-run shot, breaking his 0-for-20 slump and putting the Yankees up 2-0.
In the Game 1 loss, the combination of Torres, Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu went 0-for-15 with three walks. In Game 2, Torres, Rizzo and Josh Donaldson went 1-for-12. Stanton and LeMahieu did not start, but DJ did pinch-hit but grounded out.
The “non-stars” of the Yankees lineup came up big in the first game -- driving in all five runs -- and contributed in Game 2. Billy McKinney, called up this week when Judge went on the IL, hit a solo shot to leadoff the fifth inning to put the Yankees up 3-0. It’s his first big league home run since April of 2022 when he was with the Oakland Athletics. In the doubleheader, McKinney went a combined 2-for-6.
Jake Bauers went 1-for-2 with a walk and a double, his third of the doubleheader.
- With the offense not clicking just yet, the bullpen did a great job keeping the White Sox lineup down. Marinaccio pitched 2.1 innings of clean baseball, striking out four batters. After a leadoff walk, Clay Holmes shut the door in the ninth inning to close the game, 3-0, in favor of the Yankees. Vasquez, Marinaccio and Holmes combined allow just two hits in Game 2.