David Weathers was touched up again tonight, surrendering six runs (five earned) over four-and-one-thirds innings pitched. The Yankees ended up falling to the White Sox by a score of 8-4.
Paul O’Neill, who is now officially out of his slump, paced the offense by hitting a three-run home run in in the top of the fifth inning. It gave the Yankees a short-lived 4-1 lead, as Weathers would allow a five-spot in the bottom half. Bob Wickman, Dale Polley and Jim Mecir closed out the game, allowing a total of two runs.
With the loss and a Baltimore win, the Yankees’ lead in the division now stands at 7.5 games, the lowest it’s been in nearly a month. The Yankees will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow afternoon when Andy Pettitte starts against James Baldwin.
Box score and current stats
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - Yankees 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 4 9 1 White Sox 0 0 1 0 5 0 2 0 X 8 11 0
Batting AB R H RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG Jeter SS 4 1 3 0 1 0 .313 .371 .421 Girardi C 4 0 1 0 1 0 .302 .359 .371 ONeill RF 5 1 2 3 0 0 .303 .419 .461 Fielder DH 4 0 0 0 0 2 .249 .355 .486 B.Williams CF 4 1 1 1 0 2 .297 .376 .520 Martinez 1B 2 0 1 0 2 0 .303 .367 .472 Strawberry LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 .245 .352 .519 Duncan 3B 4 0 0 0 0 1 .324 .337 .467 Kelly 2B 3 1 1 0 0 2 .333 .429 .333 Boggs PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 .316 .394 .401
Pitching IP H R ER BB SO ERA Weathers L (2-4) 4.1 7 6 5 3 3 5.33 Wickman 2 1 1 1 0 1 4.60 Polley 0.1 1 1 1 1 0 7.82 Mecir 1.1 2 0 0 0 1 4.66