Sox return home and get drubbed by Yankees
Adam LaRoche pitched the ninth inning, so that instantly tells you Friday night was not good for the White Sox.
Returning home from a 7-1 road trip and feeling optimistic about their wild-card chances after general manager Rick Hahn let the afternoon nonwaiver trade deadline pass without making any subtractions, the Sox promptly went out and fell flat in a 13-6 loss to the New York Yankees at U.S. Cellular Field.
After winning seven in a row at Cleveland and Boston, the White Sox (49-52) have dropped two straight. They've also lost six of their last seven at home.
Carlos Rodon gets the blame for the latest setback after allowing 8 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks in 3 innings.
"Just have to be better," he said. "That's about it. I felt like I was throwing all right early on and they started hitting me around."
Rodon (4-4) put the White Sox in a huge hole in the second inning.
After the Yankees loaded the bases with two outs on a pair of singles and a walk, Alex Rodriguez followed with an RBI single and Mark Teixeira broke the game open with a grand slam.
"Just location," manager Robin Ventura said when asked about Rodon. "This is a tough team to do that against. They're veteran guys and they work it. They got some pitches they could handle and did a number on him. It's a learning lesson for him."
Batting left-handed against reliever Matt Albers in the fourth inning, Teixeira hit a 2-run shot and homered from both sides of the plate in the same game for the 14th time in his career, a major-league record.
In addition to going 4-for-5 with 1 RBI, LaRoche pitched a perfect ninth and struck out Brendan Ryan to end the inning.
"He threw a good inning," Ventura said. "We had talked about it before. He pitched in the minor leagues, so you knew he could handle it."
In the seventh inning, J.B. Shuck tripled and came home on a wild pitch. But Shuck strained his left hamstring on the slide and might be heading to the disabled list.
Fan reaction:
Social media has become a big part of major-league baseball's nonwaiver trade deadline, and White Sox fans weren't shy about voicing displeasure over Friday's lack of movement.
"I hope Sox fans have seen certainly the last eight days, if not hopefully the last month, and they are starting to see from this club what we all as a unit, us inside as well as White Sox fans and those around the industry, thought this team was capable of doing being played out in reality now," general manager Rick Hahn said before the Sox lost to the Yankees on Friday night.
"I hope as frustrating and disappointing as the first few months of the season were, I hope people are finding a way to be able to enjoy what they have been able to accomplish over the last month."
Fulmer update:
After pitching 1 scoreless inning for the Arizona Rookie League White Sox, first-round draft pick Carson Fulmer was promoted to high Class A Winston-Salem.
In 2 starts for the Dash, Fulmer has allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in 4 innings.
"So much of that is just adapting to being a pro," GM Rick Hahn said of the No. 8 overall pick. "He's been great off the field, he's taken to the program well, he's throwing the ball well. But they're short outings.
"It's as much about, here is what the throwing program is about, here's what the strength and conditioning is about, here's how you travel. He's learning a lot in a short period of time and so far he's reinforced our beliefs in him."