Gerrit Cole rebounds as Yankees destroy White Sox to continue dominance of AL Central

You’d think not having Aaron Judge around might make it more of a fair fight for teams like the White Sox.But the supposedly resurgent White Sox were pummeled 12-2 by the Yankees on Tuesday night in The Bronx, as the Judge-less offense still pounded them for three homers in the first four innings en route to the lopsided win.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

Gerrit Cole barely broke a sweat, as he allowed just one base runner until the sixth inning.For the Yankees, it was their seventh win in their past eight games, as they improved upon their AL-best record (44-27).They’ve won 11 of 13 games this season against the consistently lackluster AL Central, having swept the Guardians in Cleveland just over a week ago and winning all six games against Kansas City.A four-run third inning set the Yankees up for an easy win with Cole on the mound and a six-run fourth ended any hope of a Chicago comeback.Cole, brilliant in his first two starts back from Tommy John surgery before struggling in his last two, pitched like an ace again Tuesday.He allowed a two-out solo homer to ex-Yankee Andrew Benintendi in the first.The Yankees tied it on Spencer Jones’ second homer since his arrival- and first at home.In the third, J.C.Escarra led off with a double and moved to third on Anthony Volpe’s infield single — when the Yankees got a break, as first baseman Jacob Gonzalez didn’t cover first on a grounder to second.Ben Rice followed with a walk — using an ABS review to overturn what had been a called third strike — to load the bases with no one out.A two-run single by Cody Bellinger made it 3-1.Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s one-out walk loaded them again for Jones, who drove in another run by also drawing a walk.José Caballero hit a sacrifice fly to add to the lead, as the Yankees went up 5-1 in the 40-pitch inning.A pair of two-run homers in the fourth — one from Rice...