Yankees Win With "Small Ball" -- Which Cashman Forgot Works

Yesterday's game at Yankee Stadium II, between the Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, had a little something for everybody.

For general manager Brian Cashman, it had a home run by Aaron Judge.

For every actual Yankee Fan on the planet, it had what brought the Yankees so many wins in the late 1990s and early 2000s: Great pitching (both starting and relief) and "small ball." Cashman has forgotten that, but, last night, the Yankees really did "party like it's 1999."

CC Sabathia returned from injury (and suspension), and made his 1st start of the season. He sure didn't pitch like a man closing in on his 39th birthday: In the 1st 5 innings, he allowed just 1 baserunner, a single by Jose Rondon in the 3rd. No other hits, no walks, no hit batters, no runs. He was brilliant.

Naturally, manager Aaron Boone was under orders to only pitch him 5 innings. I sort-of understand it, but when a pitcher is cruising, you should let him cruise. Overusing the bullpen has doomed the Yankees ever since Joe Torre used Mariano Rivera for too many 2-inning saves in the 2001 postseason.

But the brilliance didn't stop with CC. Domingo German, fantastic in his 1st 2 starts of the season, effectively took CC's place in the rotation again, throwing 2 perfect innings. Zack Britton threw a perfect 8th. Aroldis Chapman threw a perfect 9th. 28 men up, 27 men down. Aside from that single in the 3rd, it was a perfect game.

And yet, there was another notable Yankee pitcher, pitching nearly equally well. Ivan Nova, stupidly traded away by Cashman in 2016, started for the White Sox, and went 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk, striking out 5. If CC had given us that, or if Nova was still with us and had given us that, I would have gladly taken it.

The Yankees stranded 2 runners in the 1st, had a leadoff runner erased on a double play in the 4th, and stranded another runner in the 5th. But the 7th was the breakout inning. Gleyber Torres led off with a single. White Sox manager Rick Renteria panicked, and replaced Nova with Jace Fry. Big mistake: Greg Bird grounded to 2nd, where Yolmer Sanchez botched what should have been a double play. Clint Frazier singled to short right, loading the bases with nobody out.

Luke Voit followed with another infield single, which scored Torres. Kyle Higashioka flew to right, which scored Bird. Tyler Wade laid down a sacrifice bunt, and that got Frazier home. 3-0 Yankees.

Judge added a home run in the 8th. It wasn't a typical Judge blast: It was a short-porcher, just sneaking over the right field wall. According to Statcast and the YES Network, it went 335 feet, and wouldn't have been out of any of the other 29 current MLB parks. But it counts the same, and it finished off the Yankees' best game of the season, ending a 4-game losing streak.

Final score: Yankees 4, White Sox 0. WP: German (3-0), because CC left before the Yankees took the lead. No save. LP: Nova (0-2).

But CC was the story. If the Big Fella, in what he says is his last season, can be a solid pitcher one more time, it will be a huge lift to the Bronx Bombers.

The series concludes this afternoon. Masahiro Tanaka starts against Carlos Rodon. Come on you Pinstripes!