While the hitters are doing their part, the pitching staff is helping the New York Yankees get rolling again.
After holding the Minnesota Twins to a total of one run in a three-game sweep, the Yankees will attempt to extend their winning streak to five games on Friday when they host the Chicago White Sox in the opener of a three-game series.
Since scoring just six runs and losing three of four games at Baltimore from April 29-May 2, the Yankees are 10-2 and have allowed three runs or fewer in eight of those games.
After outscoring the host Twins 14-1 in the three-game set, New York is returning home for a seven-game homestand, with the Seattle Mariners following the White Sox into town.
New York held the Twins scoreless after allowing a homer to Ryan Jeffers in the first inning on Tuesday. In a 5-0 win on Thursday, Clarke Schmidt allowed three hits in eight innings as part of New York’s fifth shutout of the season. The Yankees scored three times in the first inning, which featured a leadoff homer from Anthony Volpe.
Schmidt’s outing was part of a series in which the Yankees held the Twins to a .144 average (14-for-97) and also continued a strong month for the rotation. New York’s starting pitchers own a 2.60 ERA in 14 games this month and a 3.12 ERA this season.
“I think for the majority of the year, this is what we’ve been doing: pitching to good lineups and getting good results,” Yankee catcher Austin Wells said.
Volpe ran his hitting streak to nine games, and Aaron Judge doubled twice in three at-bats, giving him a .452 average (19-for-42) in his past 12 games.
“I think obviously we have a really good lineup that is going to go out there and give it their best every day and be able to slug balls at any point,” Wells said.
Chicago possesses the worst record in the American League but is 8-4 since starting the season 6-26. The White Sox are coming off consecutive series wins against the Cleveland Guardians and Washington, and they allowed three runs or fewer in all five victories. Chicago blanked the Nationals in each of the last two games of a three-game set.
In a 2-0 win over Washington on Wednesday, Korey Lee had three hits and an RBI while Tommy Pham and Andrew Benintendi each had multi-hit games. The White Sox are 11-8 since adding Pham, who is batting .319 and has hit safely in 14 of the 17 games he has started.
“Pitching has been pretty good. Offensively there are a lot of things we have to do to get better,” Pham said. “We’ve got a tough schedule coming up, so it’s going to take a lot of good baseball played by us to beat some of these teams.”
New York’s Nestor Cortes (1-4, 4.02 ERA), who has a 1.59 ERA in four home starts, opens the series coming off a rough showing. On Saturday, Cortes pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on five hits in a 7-2 loss at Tampa Bay.
Cortes is 4-0 with a 2.63 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the White Sox.
Chicago’s starters own a 1.81 ERA over the past eight games, and Mike Clevinger (0-1, 5.40 ERA) hopes to keep it going. Clevinger has allowed five runs, four earned, in 6 2/3 innings over his first two starts. He surrendered one run in 4 2/3 innings against Cleveland on Saturday while increasing his pitch count from 54 to 73.
Clevinger is 2-2 with a 3.77 ERA in six career appearances (five starts) against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
