Chicago White Sox 1 – New York Yankees 6
The Yankees miss opportunities but add on late to rest one of the big three to finish the series.
In the first inning, Luis Severino gave up a one-out base hit to Jose Abreu but a double play made quick work of the White Sox. For the White Sox, Erik Johnson took the mound and dealt with lack of command and a little lack of luck. After four straight balls walked Jacoby Ellsbury; two consecutive ground balls to Jose Abreu resulted in two errors when he bobbled the ball both times, loading the bases without retiring a batter. Brian McCann recorded the first out but the first run came in to score on the sacrifice fly to right field, putting the Yankees ahead by one. The Yankees could have had more but Gregory Bird struck out and Dustin Ackley was robbed of extra base hits when J.B. Shuck made a great diving grab to end the inning.
After getting a double play in the second inning, the Yankees table-setters started the third inning strong. Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner got on base with a pair of singles. Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann flew out to left before Greg Bird was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Unfortunately, Dustin Ackley popped out in foul territory to strand the bases loaded.
In the fourth inning, the Yankees had Didi Gregorius on with a ground-rule double and Brendan Ryan walked. With one out, Jacoby Ellsbury flew out to shallow left field. The runners advanced on a wild pitch but Brett Gardner was caught looking, stranding two runners in scoring position.
In the fifth inning, Luis Severino gave up a pair of singles but a double play stalled this rally against the 21-year-old rookie. A ground out back to Severino ended the inning .Severino faced trouble in the sixth inning when Adam Eaton walked and Jose Abreu hit a single but another double play turned ended the inning as Severino consistently found what he needed to escape danger.
The need for perfection was not evident if the Yankees could find some insurance run to support their young prospect.
Dustin Ackley started the sixth inning with a solo home run into the second deck of right field to provide an insurance run. A second insurance run scored on a bases-loaded passed ball but the Yankees stranded the bases loaded one more time today.
In six scoreless innings, Luis Severino allowed five hits while walking one and striking out two.
Justin Wilson got the call for the seventh inning and got the first out but pinch-hitter Avisail Garcia got a hold of a Wilson fastball and put it over the left center field wall for a solo home run. Wilson bounced back to get the next two outs to keep the two-run lead.
Greg Bird opened the seventh inning against reliever Zach Putnam with a ground-rule double over the left center wall. Two outs later, Didi Gregorius walked and pinch-hitter Alex Rodriguez got an infield single. Lefty Dan Jennings came in for Jacoby Ellsbury but he jumped on the first pitch he saw and put it into left field for a run-scoring single. The Yankees added additional runs in the eighth inning when Carlos Beltran got on base with a single and pinch-runner Rico Noel was a thorn in the side of reliever Daniel Webb. A poor pickoff attempt went into foul territory and allowed Noel to advance all the way to third base.
He scored on a Bird single and Bird eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Slade Heathcott. The additional runs put the Yankees ahead by five.
Dellin Betances pitched a scoreless eighth inning and with the new lead, Bryan Mitchell came on for the ninth inning instead of Andrew Miller and Mitchell finished off the game to take three out of four in the series with the visiting Chicago White Sox.
Win -€“ Luis Severino (5-3)
Loss -€“ Erik Johnson (3-1)
Notables
White Sox
*Avisail Garcia -€“ 1 for 2, R, Solo home run (13) in the 7th, RBI (59)
*Jose Abreu – 2 for 4
Yankees
*Dustin Ackley -€“ 1 for 4, R, Solo home run (9) in the 6th, RBI (26)
*Greg Bird -€“ 2 for 4, 2 R, 2B, RBI (29)
Current Yankees Record: 86-69
