CHICAGO — Where would the Yankees be without Clarke Schmidt and Isiah Kiner-Falefa?
It’s not a question many expected to be asking in August before this season began.
And even though the Yankees, with 48 games left, still are not where they want to be, their plight might be even worse without the important contributions of Schmidt and Kiner-Falefa.
Schmidt delivered another strong start and Kiner-Falefa provided the key hit in a four-run fourth inning that lifted the Yankees to a 7-1 win over the White Sox on Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.
A night after they suffered a brutal 5-1 loss to the reeling White Sox (46-69), the Yankees (59-55) rebounded to get back within 4 ½ games of the final AL playoff spot.
It was still not a perfect night for their offense, which left 10 men on base and struck out 17 times, but it was more than enough to give themselves a chance to win the series on Wednesday.
Kyle Higashioka hit two-run homer and Aaron Judge crushed a solo home run in the eighth inning to create some breathing room. For Judge, who also drew three walks, it was his second homer in 11 games since his return from the injured list.
That was plenty of support for Schmidt, who gave up just one run across 5 ¹/₃ innings, while continuing to give the Yankees consistency at a time when their thinning rotation needs it most.
Schmidt has now allowed three runs or fewer in 14 straight starts and his 19 overall starts of that variety are the fourth-most in the majors this season.
“I think you can say he’s been one of the better pitchers in the league for probably the last two or three months,” manager Aaron Boone said before the game. “After taking his lumps the first month of the season, he’s really been really consistent for us. Really excited about his continued development, his continued grasp and ownership of his pitch package. He’s pitching, as he always done, with a lot of confidence. But he’s throwing the ball well.”
After they left 28 men on base between Sunday and Monday, the Yankees put a single runner on base in each of the first three innings Tuesday with nothing to show for it.
They stranded a runner in the first and second innings before Jake Bauers was picked off of first base in the third with Gleyber Torres at the plate.
Then, in the fourth inning, Giancarlo Stanton and Billy McKinney hit back-to-back, one-out singles off Touki Toussaint before Kiner-Falefa finally made him pay.
The valuable utilityman, who started at third base, roped a double to the gap in left-center field to score both runners for the 2-0 lead.
Harrison Bader (3-for-5, two runs) came up next and slapped a single past the dive of first baseman Andrew Vaughn to score Kiner-Falefa and make it 3-0.
After Anthony Volpe and Ben Rortvedt drew walks to load the bases, Bauers came within a few feet of a grand slam. Instead, he settled for a deep sacrifice fly that extended the Yankees’ lead to 4-0.
Judge then walked to reload the bases, but Torres struck out on a pitch in the dirt to miss a chance to blow the game open.
Schmidt immediately gave one run back in the bottom of the fourth, when Luis Robert Jr. led off with his 31st home run of the season to make it 4-1.
The White Sox later put runners on the corners with one out in the sixth inning, at which point Michael King relieved Schmidt.
After he struck out Yoan Moncada and Vaughn to strand both runners, King went on to punch out five across 2 ²/₃ impressive innings.
Jonathan Loaisiga then pitched a perfect ninth inning in his first appearance since April 5 after he had elbow surgery in early May.
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