The White Sox once again fell into a 4-0 hole, and they once again hit a three-run homer to get the crowd back into it.
Alas, too much time passed between those events, the front end of the bullpen couldn't keep the game within reach, and so the days of a .500 record once again proved fleeting.
Reynaldo López only had one bad inning, but it cost him four runs. He gave up three straight hits of increasing quality in the fourth to make it a 2-0 game, and Gleyber Torres then hit a good 2-0 changeup farther than they should go, resulting in a two-run homer over the center field wall.
The White Sox didn't have that kind of inning until Juan Minaya's first bad outing in a while dug the hole irreparably deep. They struck out 16 times to zero walks on the night, with opener Chad Green recording all six outs by the swinging K. That makes it difficult to build a rally, and they needed the Yankees' help for their lone runs.
Trailing 7-0 entering the bottom of the eighth, Torres' inability to handle Yolmer Sánchez's leadoff grounder opened the door. Ryan Cordell followed with a sharp single that chased second pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr. from the game.
In came Jonathan Holder, who almost lived up to his name when he struck out Leury Garcia and induced a flyout from Tim Anderson. But while D.J. LeMahieu made a great effort to snab Jose Abreu's grounder, he rushed the throw to second and fired wide of the bag, allowing Sánchez to score and keep the inning alive. James McCann followed up with a three-run homer to right center that made it 7-4.
Thyago Vieira and Manny Bañuelos killed the buzz by teaming up to walk in a run -- Bañuelos doing so after he got a strikeout with runners on second and third for the second out, then intentionally walked the bases loaded -- and so the Sox dropped below .500 on the year.
Somehow, the White Sox matched the Yankees in hits. If only scoreboard were determined by BABIP...
Bullet points:
*The White Sox lost the DH because Welington Castillo argued balls and strikes with home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, and McCann had to vacate the DH spot to suit up. Rick Renteria was also tossed. Castillo was rung up the inning before he didn't get a 2-1 call on Clint Frazier, and Statcast didn't see anything wrong with those calls.
*Joe McEwing had to double-switch Jiménez out of the game in order to pinch-hit for Vieira to lead off the ninth, but it didn't end up mattering. Still, not the best team moment for Castilo, whose White Sox career is not known for them.
*The Yankees might have scouted Jiménez hesitation with getting the ball back into the infield, because Aaron Hicks scored from first on a double to the left-field corner, and the subsequent rushed relay didn't stand a chance.
*The start of the game was delayed by 32 minutes due to rain, which showed up again early but didn't cost further tarping.
*During the game, the Yankees reportedly agreed to acquire Edwin Encarnacion from the Seattle Mariners.
Record: 34-35 | Box score | Highlights
