Cole outduels Sale in matchup of Cy Young winners as Yankees beat Braves 5-4

NEW YORK (AP) — Gerrit Cole pitched seven strong innings and outdueled Chris Sale in a matchup of Cy Young Award winners as the New York Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves 5-4 Saturday.

George Lombard Jr. hit his second career homer in the seventh to give the Yankees a 4-2 lead. The shortstop, who homered in his big league debut Tuesday, also drew a walk in the fifth following consecutive successful ABS challenges.

New York rookie Spencer Jones drove two runs, with a single in the second and his first career triple in the fifth. Jones also scored the tiebreaking run on a balk by Sale in the fifth. Ben Rice added his 32nd homer in the eighth.

Cole allowed two runs in the fifth and four of his six hits in the frame. He struck out nine and walked two in his third straight win.

Cole, who was the 2023 AL Cy Young winner, became the 13th Yankee to reach 1,000 career strikeouts when he got Matt Olson to end the fifth.

Lombard opened the fifth with a walk against Sale. Jones tripled, scoring Lombard. New York went ahead when Sale was called for a balk by plate umpire Dan Merzel before throwing a pitch to Austin Wells.

Sale appeared to have a slight hitch in his leg before starting his motion when he was called for his third career balk. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss argued the call before being ejected.

Pitching on nine days’ rest, Sale allowed five hits and three runs in six innings, while striking out eight. He is 0-3 in three matchups with Cole.

Mike Yastrzemski hit an RBI double, and Jim Jarvis had a run-scoring single in the fifth off Cole as the Braves dropped their second straight.

Ronald Acuña Jr. homered off Brent Headrick in the eighth and Paul Blackburn retired Ozzie Albies to end the inning. David Bednar allowed an RBI single by Dominic Smith and earned his 26th save.

Atlanta RHP Grant Holmes (7-4, 3.67 ERA) faces New York RHP Cam Schlittler (10-6, 2.26) on Sunday.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Atlanta Braves' Mauricio Dubón reacts after hitting a double during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Yankees' George Lombard Jr. hits a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole reacts after Atlanta Braves' Jim Jarvis strikes out during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

CHICAGO (AP) — The Fever's Caitlin Clark was assessed her eighth technical foul of the season Saturday in a game against Chicago, and that would trigger a one-game suspension for Indiana's next game if it's not rescinded.

In the third quarter of the Fever's 90-86 win over the Sky, Clark made contact with a referee when she was forced out of bounds and was called for a technical foul.

After the game, Clark said the contact was inadvertent and that no words were exchanged. She was hopeful the WNBA would rescind the foul.

“She said I ran into her,” Clark said of the referee. “I have already watched it on the tape. So, we’ll let the league decide. But, it wasn’t anything intentional or anything. So, I hope it gets rescinded. And, nothing was said.”

The Fever's next game is on Tuesday against New York.

“That's a bad call, incidental contact when you're flying out of control,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “I thought her teammates should have come up and talked to her about that as well. I think that’s really bad. that (expletive) happens all the time in the game. you know, officials have to have some awareness in those moments, and it didn’t happen.”

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark reacts during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Minnesota Lynx, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)