The chatter following the Yankees’ 2-1 win over the White Sox on Saturday afternoon in The Bronx focused mostly on what happened at the end.
That’s when manager Joe Girardi finally was able to use all three parts of the back end of his fearsome bullpen — with Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman dominating Chicago for the final 10 outs, including eight by strikeout.
But afterward, Miller wasn’t having any of it and instead pointed to Ivan Nova, who put the bullpen in position to protect a lead.
“What did Max Scherzer say the other day? Strikeouts are sexy,” Miller said, referring to Scherzer’s 20 strikeouts Wednesday. “Strikeouts are fun. Fans like them. … But ultimately, Nova didn’t strike too many guys out today, and he was just as fun to watch.”
His outing, which featured just two strikeouts, may have been more important in the long run to any chance the Yankees have of contending this season.
Because for as good as what Didi Gregorius called “the three-headed monster” is — and it is spectacular — they won’t have much to do without starts like the one Nova delivered.
In his second start since joining the rotation to fill in for the injured CC Sabathia, Nova featured the biting sinker that can make him so effective — but is too frequently not reliable.
That wasn’t the case against Chicago. Nova induced 13 ground ball outs and was at just 74 pitches when Girardi lifted him following a walk of Todd Frazier with two outs in the sixth to go to Betances.
Nova allowed just four hits in 5 ²/₃ innings, and with Sabathia and Luis Severino out, Nova could stay in the rotation for a while.
Frazier had pounced on one of Nova’s few mistakes when he hit a homer with one out in the fourth, and Girardi was pleased Nova pitched to the third baseman carefully in the sixth.
Especially with Betances already loose.
Betances, Miller and Chapman made Girardi look smart, allowing just one baserunner in 3 ¹/₃ innings.
Nova believed he could have gotten through the sixth, but Melky Cabrera now is 8-for-13 against the right-hander after picking up another hit Saturday.
“With those three guys in the bullpen, you can never be surprised [about coming out],” Nova said. “I’m comfortable with all the guys we have, and those three guys especially are strikeout machines.”
Betances fanned Cabrera to end the inning on a 3-2 knuckle-curve and struck out the side in the seventh to set the tone. He followed that by striking out the side in the seventh, fanning all four batters he faced, before giving way to Miller.
The lefty allowed a one-out single to Adam Eaton, whiffing two in the eighth.
Chapman finished it up with strikeouts of Frazier and pinch hitter Jerry Sands and got Brett Lawrie to fly to right for his second save.
The impressive pitching performance allowed the Yankees to win a game in which they got no hits from the top six batters in the lineup and scored a pair of runs in the second.
Chicago starter Jose Quintana retired the first two batters of the inning before Chase Headley walked to start the rally.
Aaron Hicks followed with a run-scoring double to center, and Didi Gregorius delivered an RBI single to make it 2-0. The Yankees seemed poised to add more, but Austin Romine’s shot to right bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double, keeping Gregorius at third.
Brett Gardner’s groundout ended the threat, but after Frazier’s homer, the White Sox never got to the Yankees’ pitchers again.
Now, Girardi has to hope Nova and his other starters can pitch well enough to hand leads over to that dominant pen.
“I don’t think you could have asked for much more,” Girardi said. “He gave us everything he had.”