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Series Recap
·6 min read

Series Recap: Woof, White Sox trip up Yankees in ‘dog days’ series

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Aside from one late-inning rally, the Yankees almost found themselves swept at the hands of the Chicago White Sox. Lackluster defense and a lack of hitting with runners in scoring position proved a recipe for disaster. The series was the epitome of the hazy, lazy, dog days of August. It also marked the first time the Yankees had dropped a series to the White Sox in the new Yankee Stadium.

Game 1

Chalk it up to a late return from Baltimore or a short lineup, but the Yankees couldn’t quite fire when they needed to, amassing all of three hits in their 6-2 loss to the White Sox.

GLEYBER GOOD, GLEYBER GONE

Starting off with the positive, rookies Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres drove the offense against Carlos Rodon. Andujar walked to begin the fourth inning, and with one out, Torres clocked home run No. 20 to straightaway center, staking the Bronx Bombers to a 2-0 advantage. Torres joined Andujar as the first pair of Yankee rookie teammates with 20 or more homers in a season.

OFFENSIVE GHOSTING

It was a trend which started in the first frame and ended with the New York lineup posting a 0-for-7 with RISP. In the third inning, the Yankees squandered a leadoff triple to center by Ronald Torreyes. After a groundout by Shane Robinson, Torreyes was sent home on a grounder to shortstop by Aaron Hicks and was thrown out at the plate with Giancarlo Stanton on deck.

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During the seventh inning, Torres and Neil Walker coaxed walks but while Gary Sanchez was homering on a rehab assignment at Triple-A, Kyle Higashioka was swinging at ball four and fouled out on a popup on a 3-1 count. Torreyes followed by banging into an inning-ending double play.

A LOW DOWN DIRTY SHANE

Equally lackadaisical was the New York defense. The Yankees committed three errors on the evening. After making a stellar grab in left to rob Adam Engel in the sixth inning, Robinson booted a line drive, which enabled Yolmer Sanchez to advance to second. A Tim Anderson double would plate Sanchez for the fourth Chicago run.

An errant pickoff throw by A.J. Cole, fielding error by Voit and a wild pitch by Cole helped contribute to a pair of additional runs in the ninth inning.

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TANAKA’S ACUPUNCTURE OUTING

Masahiro Tanaka provided the Yankees with a decent outing, one in which he was poked and prodded by the White Sox and let down by his defense and offense. Tanaka tossed five scoreless frames until running into trouble in the sixth. Daniel Palka reached on a soft single to third. Matt Davidson followed with a free pass. Another soft grounder by Omar Navarez to Tanaka packed the bases. A two-run double by Yoan Moncada squared the game at two. Nicky Delmonico followed with a sacrifice fly to left, giving the ChiSox their first lead at 3-2.

After the aforementioned defensive debacle in the seventh, Tanaka registered a ledger of seven innings, seven strikeouts, ten hits, one walk and four runs. In other words, it wasn’t as bad as the box score would indicate.

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Game 2

What began as a slow and sloppy affair turned into an exciting finish on a couple of swings of the bat. In the end, the Yankees were able to awaken from the doldrums and turned it on when it counted most for a 5-4 walk-off victory.

TOO MANY PITCHES

Lance Lynn deserved much better for his troubles. As was the case in Miami, Lynn was solid until the sixth inning. Yet, it didn’t help that his defense made him throw more pitches than needed. Greg Bird, clearly playing first base with the plastic mitt that the Smalls character from “The Sandlot,” got from his grandma, dropped a routine throw from Torreyes during the first inning. During the second inning, Stanton went full Bobby Abreu on what was ruled a double to right by Matt Davidson. While Lynn pitched around an Andjuar error in the third inning, more pitches still had to be thrown.

During the fifth inning, a one-out single by Delmonico to left, followed by an RBI-double to left by Avisail Garcia, gave the pale hose a 1-0 edge.

After two quick outs in the sixth, Moncada and Engel registered consecutive singles to chase Lynn from the contest. With Jonathan Holder on, Yolmer Sanchez plated Moncada on a single to center. A Delmonico single to left would increase the ChiSox advantage to 4-0.

YOU CAN DU IT!

In the home half of the sixth, the Yankees finally cashed in with runners on base. Gardner set the table with a leadoff triple to right. Following a pair of pop outs, Andujar delivered, crushing a 0-1 fastball from James Shields to left, cutting Chicago’s lead in half. The home run was No. 22 on the year for the rookie third baseman.

HICKS TO THE STICKS

Facing Juan Minaya in the eighth inning, Stanton put the Yankees in business with a sharp single to right.

Hicks, the ensuing batter, destroyed a 2-2 fastball from Minaya, depositing it into the right-field stands. Hicks’ blast was also No. 22 on the campaign for him and squared the contest at four.

DIRTY DANCING DELLIN

Under Joe Girardi, this would be about the time of year where Dellin Betances would wear down. Yet, under Aaron Boone, Betances appears to be getting stronger as the season goes on. Betances was downright nasty, working a flawless ninth inning, picking up a pair of K’s with a pair of sliders.

NEIL WALK-OFF

With one down in the ninth, Boone pinch-hit Walker for Torreyes and it immediately paid dividends. Walker clocked a first-pitch fastball from Dylan Covey into the right-center bleachers and into the Bronx night. The walk-off winner was home run No. 9 on the campaign for Walker, who became the first Yankee since Brian McCann in 2014 to hit a pinch-hit, walk-off home run.

Game 3

Big Al was in the house and the Yankees could’ve used some of his pattened dingers. Spotty base running and a lack of hitting with RISP proved to be their undoing in a 4-1 loss to the White Sox. Aside from Hicks’ defense in center field, there wasn’t a lot to write home about.

LAMARRE, HEDLEY LAMARRE

It was the Ryan LaMarre show all night for Chicago. LaMarre smoked a two-run double off CC Sabathia in the second stanza and an RBI-double in the fourth frame, staking the White Sox to a 3-0 advantage. Capping off the pale hose scoring, LaMarre took Chad Green deep in the seventh.

Sabathia’s start wasn’t too bad in his six innings and his offense didn’t do him any favors either.

FIFTH INNING FLAMEOUT

The Yankees looked like they would get to Reynaldo Lopez during the fifth frame. Walker, who was robbed of a home run by Garcia in right earlier in the contest, singled to center to set the table. Torres followed with a single to center of his own. After Bird flew out, Romine coaxed a walk to pack the bases. Torreyes got the Bronx Bombers on the board with an RBI single to left.

Yet, with the opportunity to break it open, Gardner waved at strike three. The most egregious play came when Stanton swung and missed on a wild pitch and Torres, who hesitated, broke late and was thrown out at the plate and killed the rally.

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ON DECK

At 84-49, the Yankees welcome the Detroit Tigers to Yankee Stadium for a four-game set starting Thursday evening.

Pitching probables, Francisco Liriano vs. J.A. Happ, Jordan Zimmerman vs. Luis Severino, TBD vs. Masahiro Tanaka, Matthew Boyd vs. Lance Lynn.