July 29, 2026

Gerrit Cole Throws Six Scoreless as Yankees Survive Late White Sox Rally

Yankees

Gerrit Cole Throws Six Scoreless as Yankees Survive Late White Sox Rally

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Gerrit Cole looked like Gerrit Cole again, and the Yankees needed every bit of it.

Cole delivered six scoreless innings Tuesday night as the Yankees held off the Chicago White Sox for a 3-2 victory at Rate Field.

The Yankees scored all three of their runs in the second inning, then spent the rest of the night asking the pitching staff to make those runs survive.

It almost fell apart in the ninth, because apparently no Yankees win is allowed to end without raising everybody’s blood pressure.

David Bednar surrendered a two-run homer with two outs, cutting the lead to one. He recovered and struck out former Yankee Everson Pereira to finish the game and secure his 22nd save.

The Yankees improved to 61-46, won for the fifth time in six games and moved within 1 1/2 games of the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East.

Gerrit Cole Controlled The Game

Cole was the story from the beginning.

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In his 12th start since returning from Tommy John surgery, the Yankees ace allowed four hits, walked two and struck out seven across six shutout innings. He threw 99 pitches, with 60 going for strikes, and lowered his ERA to 3.57.

This was not Cole trying to survive five innings and hand the ball over early. He controlled the White Sox lineup and gave the Yankees exactly what they needed after the offense disappeared following the second inning.

Chicago’s only serious opportunity against him came in the fourth.

Munetaka Murakami opened the inning with a double, Miguel Vargas walked and Brooks Baldwin later drew another walk to load the bases. Cole escaped when Tristan Peters popped out, preserving the 3-0 lead.

That was the inning Chicago had a chance to change the game. Cole shut the door.

He also made one of the strangest defensive plays of the night in the second inning.

Colson Montgomery hit a high popup near the mound as Anthony Volpe, Amed Rosario, Austin Wells and Cole all converged. Wells bumped into Cole, but Cole still reached out with his glove and made the catch. The ball popped loose as he stumbled, and he grabbed it with his bare hand before it hit the ground.

It was not pretty, but neither was Chicago’s offense against him.

Anthony Volpe And Max Schuemann Delivered Early

The Yankees did all of their scoring against White Sox starter Anthony Kay in the second inning.

Jasson Domínguez opened the rally with a single, and Trent Grisham followed with another hit. After a wild pitch moved both runners, Volpe drove a double to deep center field that scored Domínguez and gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

Volpe’s ball nearly became a spectacular catch by Peters at the wall, but it went off his glove and dropped safely.

Max Schuemann followed with a two-run double that bounced high over third base, scoring Grisham and Volpe to make it 3-0.

Four hits. Three runs. A productive inning.

Then the offense basically clocked out.

The Yankees finished with only six hits and went scoreless over the final seven innings. They struck out 10 times and left 16 runners on base.

That is the part you cannot ignore.

Winning covers up a lot, but scoring three runs in the second and doing nothing afterward is how you leave the door open for a ninth-inning disaster.

Jasson Domínguez Continues To Create Opportunities

Domínguez was one of the Yankees’ most active offensive players.

He went 2-for-3, was hit by a pitch, scored a run and stole his seventh base of the season. He reached safely three times and helped start the only rally that produced runs.

The Yankees need more of this version of Domínguez.

He does not need to hit a home run every night. Get on base, use the speed, put pressure on the defense and give the middle of the lineup opportunities to drive him in.

Amed Rosario also collected a hit, while Paul Goldschmidt walked twice. Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Austin Wells and Spencer Jones combined to go 0-for-15 with six strikeouts.

Wells finished 0-for-4 and saw his batting average fall to .162 with a .534 OPS. At some point, the Yankees need something offensively from the catcher position. It cannot remain an automatic empty spot in the lineup.

The Bullpen Made It Interesting

Angel Chivilli and Brent Headrick handled the seventh and eighth innings without allowing a run.

Chivilli needed only eight pitches to retire the side in the seventh. Headrick allowed one single in the eighth but kept the shutout intact.

Bednar entered the ninth with a three-run lead and struck out Andrew Benintendi before allowing a single to Braden Montgomery. He struck out Peters for the second out, leaving the Yankees one out away from a comfortable ending.

Then Chase Meidroth hit a two-run homer to left field.

Suddenly, a 3-0 game became 3-2, and Pereira represented the tying run.

Bednar did not completely lose control. He stayed aggressive, battled through an eight-pitch at-bat and struck Pereira out swinging.

Save secured. Game over. Everybody could breathe again.

The Yankees Are Back In The AL East Race

The Yankees have now won five of their last six games and are only 1 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay in the division.

That is a major improvement from where this team was sitting not long ago, but the offense still has work to do.

The pitching carried this game. Cole gave them six scoreless innings, Chivilli and Headrick protected the lead, and Bednar survived the ninth.

The Yankees cannot expect three early runs to hold up every night.

Still, this was another win, another strong performance from Cole and another step closer to first place.

Cam Schlittler will take the mound Wednesday as the Yankees look to complete the series sweep. Schlittler enters the game with a 10-6 record and a 2.07 ERA. Chicago will counter with Davis Martin, who is 9-5 with a 3.49 ERA.

Now finish the job.

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Felix Pantaleón

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Born in Manhattan, New York, Felix Pantaleon is a Dominican-American digital content creator and the founder of NYYNEWS, one of the first and longest-running independent New York Yankees content creator platforms, active since 2005.

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