Boom and bust: White Sox settle for split against Yankees
The White Sox stayed hot Thursday. Then they cooled off.
Playing a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium after Wednesday night's game was postponed due to hazardous air conditions caused by Canadian wildfires, the Sox overcame another poor start from Lance Lynn and a nerve-racking bottom of the ninth inning in Game 1, beating New York 6-5 while winning their fifth in a row.
In Game 2, the Yankees ended the White Sox's streak with a 3-0 win.
Jake Burger, Luis Robert Jr., Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez all hit home runs for the Sox in the opener. Jimenez's 2-run shot in the seventh inning decided the outcome.
"It feels good," Jimenez told reporters. "It feels fun. When you win, it feels good. It sucks when you lose."
After leaving Game 2 in the ninth inning with a left leg injury, the White Sox are hoping Jimenez avoids yet another trip to the injured list.
Lynn allowed 5 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings. His ERA now stands at 6.72 and the 36-year-old righty has given up 13 runs on 16 hits and 5 walks over 9 innings in his last two starts.
"As the season goes on, you have to get on runs like this and win five in a row," Lynn said. "The offense was able to bail me out today. I gave up a lot of runs with two outs. I have to be better with two outs than I was today.
"It could have been a different ballgame for me, but the offense came back and the bullpen did a (heck) of job at the end."
Kendall Graveman closed it out for the Sox in Game 1 and he was feeling the heat when the Yankees had runners on first and second with one out in the ninth inning.
Graveman got Anthony Rizzo to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game, but Tim Anderson's foot appeared to come off second base before he threw to first.
New York appealed the call, but it was not overturned.
"In dealing with that for the last three years, sometimes the angles they show on the board are not the angles these guys got at headquarters," White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. "There was another angle we felt really good about that the call was going to stand."
Mike Clevinger got the start in Game 2, his second since coming off the injured list with a sore left wrist.
Sharp against the Tigers last Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field with 5 scoreless innings, Clevinger picked up where he left off and was perfect through three innings against the Yankees.
In the fourth, Gleyber Torres hit a 2-run homer off Clevinger. Billy McKinney closed out the scoring with a solo shot in the fifth inning.
Clevinger pitched 5⅔ innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and a walk while throwing a season-high 101 pitches.
In the nightcap, the White Sox's offense was held to 2 singles by Yankees starter Randy Vasquez and two relievers.
After reaching first base on a throwing error in the ninth inning, Jimenez had to leave the game with the leg injury.
"He's day to day," Grifol said. "We'll evaluate it tomorrow. Felt it right out of the box. Lower leg."