CINCINNATI — With the potential high for a hangover on Friday as they came off an intense four-game series with their division rival Blue Jays, the Yankees powered through. If anything, their series opener against the Reds played back some hits from the series in Toronto: an Aaron Judge home run, an apparent sticky-stuff controversy and an offense that stayed on the attack. In the end, though, it was enough for the Yankees to secure a 6-2 win over the Reds at Great American Ball Park.
Unbothered by a little more drama — though far less than what they experienced in four games north of the border — the Yankees (27-20) won for the ninth time in their past 12 games.
The controversy on Friday involved Clarke Schmidt, who cruised through four scoreless innings before getting held up by a foreign-substance check before he got to the mound for the bottom of the fifth.
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