Yankees again ride the long ball to victory

Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Trent Grisham homered to lift the New York Yankees to a 10-4 victory over the host Chicago White Sox on Thursday.

New York stretched its winning streak to five games while earning its 10th victory in the past 13. The Yankees remained a half-game behind the Boston Red Sox for the first American League wild card and moved within four games of the idle Toronto Blue Jays for the AL East lead. The Red Sox won 3-2 at Baltimore on Thursday.

Will Warren improved to 8-6 after spacing four unearned runs and five hits in five innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Relievers Fernando Cruz, Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, and Mark Leiter Jr. combined to retire 12 straight as Chicago lost its third in a row.

Bellinger, who finished 3-for-4, reached White Sox starter Davis Martin for a two-run blast in the first inning. Chisholm connected for a solo shot in the second before Grisham’s two-run shot in the eighth.

Chicago first baseman Miguel Vargas hit his first career grand slam to tie the game in the second. Each run was unearned, however, after Edgar Quero reached base on shortstop Anthony Volpe’s throwing error to open the inning.

Vargas left the game with an apparent injury to his left wrist in the top of the fifth. His arm bent backward while trying to grab third baseman Curtis Mead’s errant throw on a play that allowed New York to take a 5-4 lead. Vargas’ wrist made contact with Aaron Judge, who reached on a single.

Kyle Teel collected two of Chicago’s five hits.

Martin scattered four runs — three earned — and four hits in 3 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out five while yielding multiple home runs for the second straight start.

Volpe chased Martin from the game with a fourth-inning double, his first hit since Aug. 19. He added a hit later to finish 2-for-3.

Ben Rice and Chisholm (two RBIs) also had two hits.

The White Sox committed three errors. Losing pitcher Tyler Alexander (4-12) allowed two runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Chicago shortstop Colson Montgomery (left side soreness) missed his second straight game.