Giancarlo Stanton hit a go-ahead bases-clearing double with one out in the fifth inning and the New York Yankees stayed tied atop the American League East with a 5-3 victory over the visiting Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.
The Yankees (91-68) won their fifth straight game and remained even with Toronto (91-68) atop the division. New York improved to 22-8 in their past 30 games since trailing the Blue Jays by 6 1/2 games following a 12-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Aug. 23. Toronto holds the tiebreaker.
The Yankees clinched at least home-field advantage in a best-of-three wild-card series that would start Tuesday.
New York rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the fifth, knocking out Chicago starter Davis Martin. Singles by Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger chased Martin, and Tyler Gilbert (4-2) walked Ben Rice to load the bases.
Stanton followed by hammering a 109 mph ground ball past third baseman Curtis Mead’s glove into left field for a 4-3 lead.
Austin Wells added an RBI double in the seventh that scored pinch runner Jasson Dominguez after Stanton walked against Mike Vasil.
Judge had two more hits and drew two more intentional walks. He ended the night with a major-league-best .330 average and an AL-record 36 intentional free passes.
New York’s Carlos Rodon (18-9) allowed three runs on four hits in six innings. Rodon struck out five, walked one and finished his third season as a Yankee by going 7-2 in his final nine starts.
Rice hit a bases-loaded groundout to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead after the first three hitters reached against Martin.
Chicago’s Corey Julks hit a tying sacrifice fly in the second, and Michael A. Taylor hit a fastball into the first row of the right-center-field seats for a 3-1 lead in the fourth.
Martin allowed three runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two.
The White Sox lost their fifth game in a row and fell for the 11th time in 12 games. Rookie Colson Montgomery had two of their five hits and reached base three times.
After New York’s Luke Weaver pitched a perfect seventh, Devin Williams retired Miguel Vargas with two on to end the eighth. David Bednar pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 26th save.
–Field Level Media
