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The Yankees had to contend with Tyler Gilbert but not his original glove.
The White Sox lefty jogged in from the bullpen in the fifth inning and was given the usual sticky-stuff inspection from the umpiring crew, which could not determine if there was an illegal foreign substance on his glove, MLB said.
According to the league, crew chief Dan Bellino said that because there was nothing on Gilbert’s hand, they tossed the glove but not the player.
The glove was confiscated and is expected to be inspected by the league while Gilbert received a new glove from the White Sox’s dugout and remained on the mound in what became a 5-3 Yankees win in The Bronx on Thursday night.
“They said they didn’t like something in the glove, but there was nothing on his hand or anything,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Gilbert entered amid a two-on, one-out jam, walked Ben Rice to load the bases and watched Giancarlo Stanton crush a ground ball to third.
Third baseman Curtis Mead could not knock the ball down on what was ruled a three-run double.
Aaron Judge (2-for-3 with two walks) reached base four times, twice via intentional walks that became historic: Judge’s 36 intentional walks this season are the most in AL history (since the stat began being tracked in 1955), surpassing Ted Williams’ 34 in 1957.
The Yankees’ probable pitchers, in order, for the season-ending series against the Orioles: Will Warren, Cam Schlittler and Luis Gil.
All three are candidates for an if-needed Game 3 on Thursday in a potential wild-card series. Warren would be pitching on five days’ rest, Schlittler on four and Gil on three.
It is possible, of course, that any of that trio is either scratched or pulled early to better set them up for the potential Game 3 start.
“We’ll see how the next couple days unfold,” Boone said.
Luke Weaver tossed a scoreless seventh and has not allowed a run in his past five appearances.
David Bednar (scoreless ninth) has not allowed an earned run in 39 of his past 44 games.
There are some around sports who would grow concerned with a bye in the postseason, risking rustiness even while assuring rest.
The Yankees are not among this group.
“I’ll take the bye all day long,” Boone said. “It’s winning a series essentially without having to play one.
“Certainly anything can happen in the postseason, but anything can happen in the best-of-three in the wild-card [round].”
— additional reporting by Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman
