Clay Bellinger blooped a go-ahead RBI single in the 11th inning and Aaron Judge and Austin Wells homered as the visiting New York Yankees defeated the Chicago White Sox 5-3 on Saturday for their seventh straight win.
The Yankees moved within two games of the American League East-leading Toronto Blue Jays while stretching their lead over the Boston Red Sox for the first AL wild-card berth to 1 1/2 games.
New York entered the 11th with just three hits but surged ahead with three more. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed Bellinger’s single that scored automatic runner Trent Grishman with an RBI single, and Anthony Volpe delivered a run-scoring double.
Mike Tauchman and Chase Meidroth both had two hits and an RBI for Chicago, which lost its fifth straight. Andrew Benintendi also had two hits.
Judge smacked his club-leading 42nd home run with one out in the fourth to put the Yankees ahead 1-0. Judge hit a 1-0 changeup from White Sox starter Shane Smith 429 feet into the center field bleachers.
Chicago tied the game in the bottom of the fifth as Tauchman delivered a two-out RBI single against Yankees starter Cam Schlittler.
Schlittler took a Brooks Baldwin line drive off his throwing arm two batters earlier but recovered to retire Baldwin and remained in the game.
The rookie right-hander scattered four hits while yielding one run in six innings. He walked while one matching a career high with eight strikeouts.
Smith, a fellow rookie righty, also took a no-decision. He allowed two runs and three hits in 6 1/3 innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Wells went deep to put New York ahead 2-1 in the seventh. Chicago tied the game on Meidroth’s RBI single in the bottom half.
With the game tied 2-2, Volpe bunted automatic runner Austin Wells to third to start the 10th, but the Yankees didn’t score. Meidroth cut down Wells at the plate on Ryan McMahon’s groundout to second base. Chicago’s Grant Taylor fanned Grisham with two on and two out.
Chicago also failed to score in the 10th after moving automatic runner Michael A. Taylor to third on a groundout.
Winner David Bednar (5-5) pitched two scoreless innings. Tyler Alexander (4-13) allowed three runs, two earned, in the 11th.
Camilo Doval worked around Will Robertson’s RBI groundout to pick up his 16th save.
