White Sox 1, Yankees 2: Sox Drop a Tight Contest to the Yanks
It was a playoffs vibe on Friday night in the Bronx.
A late-game triple play gave the New York Yankees extra confidence heading into the ninth against the Chicago White Sox. White Sox reliever Evan Marshall gave up two straight singles before an eventual third single of the inning from Gleyber Torres drove in the winning run, helping the Yankees take the series opener 2-1 over the White Sox.
Offense
White Sox, for the second game in a row, scored two or fewer runs. For most of the game, they struggled to find any offense. It was not until the top of the eighth when they finally scored a run on a Nick Madrigal RBI single. Yes, that happened when Madrigal was in a two-strike count.
As a team, Chicago managed just five hits and two walks while striking out 11 times. All strikeouts came against Montgomery.
Yermín Mercedes and Yoán Moncada each had a pair of hits. Mercedes got on base via a walk as well. Moncada now has a 10-game hit streak.
Tim Anderson is hitless in his last three games. He’s gone 0-for-14 with three strikeouts.
Pitching
Heading into Friday night, MLB posted a graphic highlighting the Cy Young race, which left off Carlos Rodón. Rodón has been the White Sox ace so far this season and even has a no-hitter under his belt.
It was smooth sailing early for Rodón. He began the game with five straight strikeouts, which have not happened against the Yankees in New York since Sandy Koufax did it in 1963 (ESPN Stats and Info/ELIAS).
Rodón vs. Yankees: six innings, two hits, zero runs, zero earned runs, zero walks, and 13 strikeouts.
Currently, Rodón is 5-1 over seven starts with a 1.27 ERA, 62 strikeouts, and an impressive 0.80 WHIP.
Jordan Montgomery did go toe-to-toe with Rodón. Montgomery finished the evening going seven scoreless innings allowing just four hits, walking none, and striking out eleven Sox batters.
Defense
Sox made two heads-up, running saving throw home. One by José Abreu in the third and another from Tim Anderson in the eighth.
Unfortunately, it was not a clean game, and Nick Madrigal did have two errors.
Not Fun
In the bottom of the ninth with no outs, the White Sox had runners on first and second after a walk and a successful bunt attempt. The game was tied with the Sox looking to take their first lead of the day with rookie Andrew Vaughn at the plate. Vaughn, in a 1-1 count, swung at an 85 mile-per-hour pitch from Aroldis Chapman. Vaughn makes contact but grounded into a 5-4-3 triple-play starting with his grounder to Gio Urshela.
Final Note
José Abreu since day one has been the heart of the Chicago White Sox. Despite not playing the major leagues until he was 26-years-old, he has made a name for himself and cemented himself as a White Sox legend. A World Series under his belt will definitely put any doubters to rest if they are any at all.
Friday evening, Abreu logged another accolade. After sitting out the Twins series with an ankle injury, Abreu returned to the lineup, which later resulted in his 1,000 career game. Just 29 members of the White Sox have ever accomplished that with the team. As long as he plays the rest of the series, he will pass Magglio Ordóñez (1,001) and tie Carlos May (1,002) on Sunday.