Chicago @ New York preview
Yankee Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 16, 2019 ) NY Yankees 10, Chi. White Sox 3
An eventful three-city road trip ended with a run of dominant pitching for the New York Yankees.
Friday, the Yankees return home to host the American League-leading Chicago White Sox in the opener of a three-game series.
The Yankees went 7-3 on the 10-game trip through Tampa Bay, Baltimore and Texas. Along the way, they endured a COVID-19 outbreak among nine members of their traveling party and injuries to Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks.
Those events preceded two impressive pitching performances that helped the Yankees win three of four from Texas. On Tuesday, Corey Kluber faced one above the minimum in New York's first no-hitter since David Cone's perfect game in 1999, and a day later, Domingo German pitched seven strong innings and the Yankees got pinch-hit singles from Gio Urshela and Aaron Judge in a 2-0 win.
New York returns home with a 3.27 team ERA and posted a 3.41 ERA on the road trip that ended with its pitchers holding Texas scoreless for the final 22 innings.
"They can pitch, man," New York manager Aaron Boone said. "Obviously the bullpen's been there to complement them and been terrific all year, as well. I love where the starters are at right now and the way they're throwing the ball as a group."
The successful road trip is part of New York's turnaround within the past month. Since falling to 6-11 on April 21, the Yankees are 19-8.
Chicago is 10-3 in its past 13 games and its starters have allowed two runs or fewer in 28 games.
The White Sox are also coming off an eventful three-game series when they took two of three from Minnesota. Chicago opened the series with a 16-4 win Monday that was highlighted by Yermin Mercedes homering on a 3-0 count off position player Willians Astudillo that sparked another debate about the unwritten rules.
Manager Tony La Russa did not agree with Mercedes swinging, and players such as Tim Anderson used social media to disagree.
On Wednesday, the White Sox got eight innings of one-run ball from Lucas Giolito, who struck out 11 in a 2-1 win.
"I really love the way that we're going about our business on a daily basis," Giolito said. "Our next step is having that expectation to win every single day, having that supreme confidence in ourselves as a unit, and I feel like we're there right now."
The White Sox picked up their latest win without Jose Abreu, whose eight homers and 33 RBIs lead the team. Abreu missed the series with left ankle inflammation and Chicago hopes he can return Friday.
Jordan Montgomery (2-1, 4.75 ERA), who produced New York's shortest start of the trip, gets the call Friday. Montgomery allowed a season-high five runs on six hits in three innings of Sunday's 10-6 loss at Baltimore.
Montgomery is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two career starts against Chicago.
Carlos Rodon (5-1, 1.47), who is coming off his first loss of the season, starts for the White Sox. Rodon allowed season highs of four runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings in a 5-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
Rodon is 3-3 with a 5.34 ERA in six career starts against the Yankees.
--Field Level Media