You Just Might Find You Get What You Need

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 1-0 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The Pirates scored their run in the bottom of the 8th inning. With 1 out, they drew 3 straight walks. As you may have heard, those can kill you. And then Ke'Bryan Hayes grounded into a fielder's choice that got the run home.

You'll notice that there was no mention of a hit. They didn't get one. Not in that inning, not in any other. Hunter Greene started for the Reds, and got to that 8th inning, was relieved for former Yankee Adam Warren, and he completed the no-hitter. But, thanks to 6 walks, the Pirates got no-hit and won. Now an atrocious 9-26 on the season, the Reds pitched a no-hitter and lost. That's only happened 6 times in major league history.

One of those times was on July 1, 1990, at the old Comiskey Park in Chicago. Andy Hawkins went 8 innings for the Yankees, and allowed no hits, but 3 errors and 2 walks in the 8th doomed him, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Yankees, 4-0.

Yesterday's game, the conclusion of a 4-game series between the Yankees and the White Sox, was played across 35th Street from the site of Comiskey Park, at what's now named Guaranteed Rate Field. It wasn't quite either of those 2 games mentioned, but it was almost weird enough.

This time, the cliché was completely obvious: It was walks that helped the Yankees and killed the White Sox and their starting pitcher, Michael Kopech. With 2 out in the top of the 2nd, Joey Gallo drew a walk. Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled. Then Jose Trevino walked to load the bases. Then Aaron Hicks walked, forcing Gallo home: Then DJ LeMahieu walked, forcing IKF home. Then Kopech threw a wild pitch, before Kopech got Aaron Judge to ground out to end it.

And the game remained 3-0 Yankees all the way into the bottom of the 8th, because Nestor Cortes pitched great again, allowing just 2 hits and no walks, striking out 7. He finally allowed a home run to Adam Engel, but that would be it. The Yankees would go into the top of the 9th, with only 1 hit to their credit, but leading 3-1.

A walk by Josh Donaldson was followed by the Yankees' 2nd hit of the game, a home run by Gallo. Now that it was no longer a save situation, Aaron Boone no longer faced the question of whether he could trust Aroldis Chapman 19 hours after a blown save. Boone sent Clay Holmes in to pitch the bottom of the 9th, and despite allowing an infield single, he ended it.

Yankees 5, White Sox 1. WP: Cortes (2-1). No save. LP: Kopech (0-1). If you had told me before the game that the Yankees would get only 2 hits, I would have figured on a bad loss. But, as the Rolling Stones taught us, You can't always get what you want, but, if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need."

So the Yankees took 3 out of 4 in Chicago, and were 2 outs away from a 4-game sweep. They remain in 1st place in the AL East, 4 1/2 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, and now 7 ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays, who are seeing their much-hyped chance slip away. At 25-9, .735, a 119-win pace, the Yankees have the best record in baseball.

Tonight, they go to Baltimore to begin a 4-game series against the Orioles, before returning home for a rematch series with the White Sox.