CHICAGO — The bullpen was long expected to be an area the Yankees would need to address by the trade deadline, but on the way there, their relief corps became a pleasant surprise.
Five days away from the deadline, though, an overworked group had a rough night — compounded by a brutal decision from Ali Sánchez when they were one out away from winning it anyway.
In a game where three of the best Yankees relievers were unavailable because of recent workload concerns, the bullpen blew a three-run lead in the eighth, a one-run lead in the 11th and then lost it in the 12th as Ryan Yarbrough gave up a walk-off single for a crushing 6-5 loss to the White Sox on Wednesday night at Rate Field.
Paul Blackburn gave up a pair of home runs on back-to-back pitches in the eighth inning, turning a 4-1 lead into a tie game. The final blow came four innings later, when Yarbrough, the last man available in the bullpen, allowed a bloop single to Edgar Quero that fell in front of Trent Grisham, who appeared to be playing deeper than he needed to.
And along the way, the Yankees wasted chances to score, including loading the bases with one out in the top of the 12th and not being able to push anything across.
But the most agonizing part of the loss came in the bottom of the 11th, after Anthony Volpe’s sacrifice fly had put the Yankees ahead 5-4, and Camilo Doval entered to get two quick outs with some terrific defense behind him.
The Yankees were one out away from the win, with Munetaka Murakami at third, when Sánchez tried to back-pick him. Instead, his throw bounced past Ryan McMahon — who was shifted toward second but ran to third on the play — allowing Murakami to run home to tie the game.
Edgar Quero hits a bloop single to center for the game-winning hit in the Yankees’ 6-5, 12-inning loss to the White Sox on July 29, 2026 in Chicago. Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
“Me and McMahon felt he was getting a little slow back to the base,” Sánchez said. “Just made a bad throw.”
Sánchez, who had entered the game in the 10th after Austin Wells was pinch run for, indicated he would attempt the throw again if he could do it all over, which Aaron Boone echoed.
“Just got to execute the throw,” Boone said. “Just playing catch. We’re big leaguers, we’re not going to not do things. Obviously an option’s [to] hold it, but it comes down to we got to play catch better.”
Cam Schlittler allowed just one run and pitched into the seventh inning, receiving a no-decision in the Yankees’ 6-5, 12-inning loss to the White Sox on July 29, 2026 in Chicago. AP
The Yankees (61-47), who are now 1-7 in extra-inning games this season, fell to 2 ¹/₂ games back of the Rays for first place in the AL East.
They will try to still win the four-game series against the White Sox (56-51) on Thursday.
Playing so many close games of late in large part because of the lineup’s inability to blow things open, the Yankees have had to ask a lot of their bullpen.
Ali Sanchez slides safely into home on Anthony Volpe’s sacrifice fly in the 11th inning of the Yankees’ 12-inning loss to the White Sox. Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
On Wednesday, that meant not having David Bednar, Brent Headrick and Angel Chivilli available after each had thrown on back-to-back days (and Bednar four of the last five).
Cam Schlittler got the Yankees off to a strong start, carrying a one-hit shutout into the seventh inning before losing his command and exiting with one out and a 4-1 lead — with all four Yankees runs coming in the first inning, three on a Spencer Jones home run.
Fernando Cruz relieved Schlittler and stranded both runners, but then gave up a leadoff double in the eighth.
One out later, Blackburn entered for the top of the order and what would have been a five-out save. The reliever had been so good of late, pitching to a 0.92 ERA over his last 25 games since May 16, but could not do it again Wednesday.
He threw a 1-1 fastball at the top of the zone to Sam Antonacci, who crushed it to right field for a two-run shot that pulled the White Sox within 4-3.
Murakami came up next and pounced on a first-pitch curveball just below the zone, sending it into the left field seats to tie the game.
Spencer Jones belts a three-run homer in the first inning of the Yankees’ 12-inning loss to the White Sox. Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
“Honestly, I felt like I made my pitches,” Blackburn said. “Those guys are good too. It sucks. You just got to keep going, keep making your pitches. Definitely let everyone down in here tonight, but come back [Thursday] and get a win.”
Blackburn went on to throw a scoreless ninth before Tim Hill did the same in the 10th, even after his wild pitch allowed the automatic runner to reach third with no outs.
But in the end, it was still not enough to spare the Yankees a gut-punch loss.
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“I thought we had a good battle,” Schlittler said. “Some mental mistakes, but that’s baseball. It’s part of the game.”
