Chicago White Sox bounce back big against New York Yankees

It's OK to admit it.

Without a doubt, the White Sox played well on their last road trip, winning 7 of 8 at Cleveland and Boston.

But the Indians are last in the AL Central and the Red Sox are last in the AL East.

When the Sox returned to U.S. Cellular Field Friday night and got smacked around by the Yankees, who are first in the AL East, a sense of dread seemed to set in.

“We played well on the road, and then to come back and have that loss right off the bat wasn't great,” center fielder Adam Eaton said. “But to come out here and have some really good pitching, some great defense and some timely hitting, it was what we needed to see and what we need to see moving forward.”

Unlike Friday, the White Sox looked like a team that might have what it takes to make a playoff push in Saturday night's 8-2 win over New York.

The Sox excelled in all three phases while remaining 3½ games behind the Twins for the second wild-card spot.

On the pitching side, starter John Danks worked 5⅔ innings and allowed 1 run on 3 hits and 4 walks. He also had 8 strikeouts and got his fastball up to 94 mph.

That's the hardest Danks (6-8) has thrown since having shoulder surgery three years ago.

“Tonight's the best stuff I've had in two years,” Danks said. “I would say since the (all-star) break my stuff's gradually gotten better. It's nice to be able to reach back and throw a respectable fastball.”

On the offensive side, the White Sox matched their season high for most runs scored at home. Leading 2-1 in the fifth inning, Melky Cabrera broke the game open with a 3-run homer off Yankees reliever Diego Moreno.

Over his last 11 games, the Sox' left fielder is batting .478 with 2 home runs and 16 RBI.

“He's been hot,” manager Robin Ventura said. “We've said it before, he's been in the middle of a lot of it.”

Eaton (2-for-4) extended his hitting streak to 10 games, and the White Sox' leadoff man has reached base safely in all 15 games since the all-star break.

“Runs come in bunches,” Eaton said. “It's contagious, just as good as defense is and as good pitching is. So if we continue to be contagious to hit and score 7 or 9 runs, it's going to be a good two months.”

On the defensive side, the Sox have been performing at a high level for the better part of a month, and they might have played their best game of the season in the lopsided win over New York.

Right fielder Avisail Garcia robbed Didi Gregorious of a home run in the third inning with a leaping catch, second baseman Carlos Sanchez made two highlight plays and Sanchez and shortstop Alexei Ramirez combined to turn a dazzling double play in the eighth.

“We've had our issues early on in the year defensively, and part of that is we know we're going to be able to pitch and our guys go out there and they're trusting the defense,” Ventura said.

“You can't be afraid to throw strikes and be able to let the defense work. Especially our infield right now, we feel pretty good about it in being able to turn hard hit balls into outs and some of them into double plays.”