The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
NO REST NECESSARY
The Yankees’ Gary Sanchez hits a two-run single off Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Rookie Davis in the first inning Monday in Cincinnati. Fresh off an 18-inning win over the Cubs on Sunday night, the Yankees beat the Reds 10-4 in Cincinnati.
CINCINNATI >> Brett Gardner and Matt Holliday homered, Masahiro Tanaka won his fifth consecutive start, and the New York Yankees shook off a long game and a short night’s sleep, beating the Cincinnati Reds 10-4 on Monday for their sixth victory in a row.
The Yankees have the best record in the majors at 21-9 and are 12 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2015 season.
Their biggest challenge was overcoming the fatigue from an 18-inning, 5-4 win at Wrigley Field early Monday. The Yankees didn’t land in the Cincinnati area until 5:08 a.m., and the sun was up when some of them finally fell asleep. Players sipped caffeinated drinks and yawned in the clubhouse pregame.
Tanaka (5-1) gave them what they needed after their all-nighter, going seven innings on 112 pitches to rest the bullpen. He allowed four runs — Joey Votto drove in three with a single and a homer — while ending the Reds’ five-game winning streak.
Gary Sanchez got the Yankees going with his bases-loaded single in the first off Rookie Davis (12), a former Yankees prospect. Didi Gregorius also drove in a pair off Davis, who went to the Reds in the trade for closer Aroldis Chapman after the 2015 season.
Gardner and Holliday connected in the eighth inning as the Yankees pulled away.
There were some sloppy moments for the AL East leaders. The Yankees committed a pair of errors in the infield and had a runner thrown out at second base while tagging on a flyout.
Manager Joe Girardi gave Aaron Judge and Starlin Castro a day out of the starting lineup, and he’ll give a couple more players some rest on Tuesday to help them fully recover from the 6-hour, 5-minute game in Chicago.