Yankees look dazed beneath haze vs. Chicago’s Lucas Giolito
Smoke filled the air at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, but not because the Yankees’ bats were on fire.
Instead, White Sox starter Lucas Giolito kept the Bombers hitless for six innings as the two teams played beneath an unhealthy haze, the result of smoke from Canadian wildfires drifting south. The smog provided an apocalyptic-looking backdrop as Chicago claimed a 3-2 victory to begin a three-game series.
Aaron Boone and players didn’t seem to be impacted by the unusual conditions, while a Yankees spokesperson noted that canceling the game would have been Major League Baseball’s decision. The Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate had their game banged on Tuesday.
“Seemed like it was a little foggy out there,” Josh Donaldson said, “but nothing out of the ordinary besides it was a little cloudy, I guess.”
The Yankees picked up their first hit of the night when Isiah Kiner-Falefa lofted a catchable flyball that dropped between centerfielder Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Benintendi. The mishap, which happened with Joe Kelly on the mound, allowed Willie Calhoun to score after he walked earlier in the inning.
The Yanks finished the game with three total hits, including a solo shot from Donaldson off closer Liam Hendriks in the ninth. Hendriks, however, notched his first save since returning from a battle with Stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Prior to that, Giolito stifled the Yankees’ lineup, which played without Aaron Judge for the second straight game after he injured his toe on a fence-breaking catch Saturday at Dodger Stadium. The right-handed Giolito took advantage, blanking the opposition while striking out seven.
Three walks contributed to a 100-pitch count for Giolito after six frames, so he didn’t get a chance to finish his no-hit bid. But his fastball-slider-changeup combo kept the Yankees at bay long enough.
“We had the right at-bats against him, made him work, got his pitch count up, a lot of three ball counts, worked some walks, but just weren’t able to ding him at all,” Boone said, “and that was a result of him staying out of the heart of the plate. I thought he did a good job moving both sides but also up and down. I thought we had some tough at-bats against him; just couldn’t quite finish him off. He was tough tonight.”
Seby Zavala’s two home runs off Clarke Schmidt, meanwhile, gave the White Sox all the runs they needed. Zavala’s first dinger barely cleared the short porch in right at Yankee Stadium, as it only traveled 320 feet.
“Obviously, the air wasn’t thick enough,” Schmidt joked. “The homer down the line might not have got out.”
Despite the two longballs to Chicago’s No. 9-hitting catcher, Schmidt went six innings as well. He totaled six hits, three earned runs, zero walks and one strikeout over 79 pitches.
Former South Siders Tommy Kahnle and Jimmy Cordero followed Schmidt in relief before Albert Abreu finished the game.
The Yankees will look for a win on Wednesday without Judge, who will join Nestor Cortes on the injured list. Ex-Yankee Lance Lynn will start the second game of the series for Chicago, while Randy Vasquez will pitch for the pinstripers.
Vasquez made his major league debut on May 26, allowing two earned runs, three walks and six strikeouts over 4.2 innings against the Padres. The 24-year-old righty has a 5.13 ERA at Triple-A this season.
Mike Clevinger and Luis Severino are the probable pitchers for the series finale on Thursday.
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