Hard to believe: White Sox lose to Yankees in another head-shaker
For the second time in four days, Tony La Russa could do little more than shake his head following a weird White Sox loss.
On Monday, the Sox led Cleveland 8-2 in the ninth inning and fell 12-9 in 11.
On Thursday, Yoan Moncada supplied the momentum with a 3-run homer in the seventh inning that pulled the White Sox into a 7-7 tie with the Yankees at Guaranteed Rate Field.
New Sox reliever Joe Kelly got the first two outs in the eighth before issuing three straight walks to load the bases.
A potent New York lineup took full advantage of the situation, scoring 7 runs off Kelly and Tanner Banks while rolling to a 15-7 win at Guaranteed Rate Field.
"Two outs, nobody on and the way the ball's coming out of Joe's hand, and look up there and see a 7-spot, you had to see it to believe it," La Russa said. "I can't believe it. But I saw it, so I believe it."
Dylan Cease was feeling much the same way after his start against the Yankees.
On May 2, the right-hander took the mound against the Angels and overmatched one of baseball's best lineups.
Not only did the White Sox's starting pitcher shut out Los Angeles over 7 innings, he struck out Mike Trout three times and had 11 overall.
Cease's turn in the rotation came up again Thursday and he was tasked with holding down the Yankees, another quality opponent.
He matched his career-high with 11 strikeouts, and he piled up that number in only 4 innings.
Unlike the Angels, the Yankees were able to square Cease up in the short outing. Giancarlo Stanton did the majority of the damage with a pair of 2-run homers off the Sox's right-hander.
"It was odd," Cease said. "For me, I'm just going to tip my cap. They beat me today and just get after it in the next one."
Trailing N.Y. 7-4 in the seventh inning, Moncada hit his first home run since coming off the injured list Monday after missing the first 27 games of the season with an oblique strain.
The 3-run shot off reliever Jonathan Loaisiga tied the game at 7 but the White Sox ended up getting blown out.
Cease - who has 58 strikeouts over 38 innings for the season - gave up 6 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while throwing 90 pitches.
In addition to the Stanton damage, Anthony Rizzo delivered an RBI triple in New York's 3-run third inning.
Rizzo was playing his first game in Chicago since being traded from the Cubs to the Yankees last July. There were numerous Rizzo jerseys in the crowd of 20,050, but the first baseman also heard plenty of boos.
"It just feels good always being here, obviously a special place for me and my family," Rizzo said before the game. "That will never change. It's a lot easier to come to Chicago and play here right now than it would be going there (Wrigley Field). It would definitely be more emotional going to Wrigley, especially on a weekend like this. The place would be insane."