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Yankees clinch 32nd straight winning season by blanking the Cubs for the 2nd straight day

Clarke Schmidt and Nestor Cortes combined on a 4-hitter, and the New York Yankees clinched their 32nd straight winning season by blanking the Cubs 2-0 on Saturday.

Schmidt pitched 4⅔ innings of four-hit ball in his first big-league game since May 26. Cortes (9-10) closed it out in his first relief appearance since 2021.

Cortes admitted he was upset when he learned he was going to pitch in relief.

“I'm never going to back down from a challenge,” Cortes said. “I'm never going to leave my teammates out to dry. You're always going to get my best effort no matter if I'm happy or not. That's what I did today. I came out there and proved I can be put in any situation. From here on out, if that's my role, I'll accept it.”

Schmidt had been sidelined by a right lat strain. He threw 75 pitches, 44 for strikes.

“I felt like I still had a lot of strength and I wasn't fatiguing at all,” Schmidt said.

New York posted its second straight shutout to secure its first series win since it took two of three against Colorado from Aug. 23-25. The 32 straight seasons with a winning record is the second-longest such period in major league history, trailing a run of 39 consecutive seasons for the Yankees from 1926-64.

New York Yankees' Anthony Rizzo receives a standing ovation while coming up to bat during the second inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. New York won 2-0. Rizzo formerly played for the Cubs. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty) AP

New York (82-60) was a half-game back of AL East-leading Baltimore heading into Saturday's action.

Chicago (72-70) has lost four of five on a crucial homestand as it tries to rally in the race for the third NL wild card. It beat Pittsburgh 12-0 on Wednesday, but it has managed a total of three other runs in its last five games, getting shut out three times.

“We feel like we have a good enough ballclub to be in the playoffs and in the picture, but we're going to have to play a little bit better and keep pushing here,” left fielder Ian Happ said.

Cubs right-hander Javier Assad (7-5) allowed one earned run and three hits in 5⅔ innings.

New York scored its first run when Austin Wells drove in Gleyber Torres with a groundout in the first. The Yankees made it 2-0 in the sixth when Aaron Judge swiped third as part of a double steal and scampered home on catcher Christian Bethancourt's throwing error.

Judge, who leads the majors with 51 homers, went 0 for 3 with a walk. He hasn't homered in 11 games in his longest streak of the season.

The Cubs had their best scoring opportunity in the fifth. Pete Crow-Armstrong singled with one out, but was caught stealing. Patrick Wisdom then tripled to right, but he was stranded when Cortes got Bethancourt to foul out.

“He handled it really well, came into a high-leverage situation with a runner on third and got the job done,” Wells said of Cortes. “From there, cruised.”

Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo heard more cheers in his second game back at Wrigley Field since he was traded by Chicago to New York in July 2021. He tipped his cap before his first at-bat and reached second on Crow-Armstrong's dropped catch in center.

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