Led by Aaron Judge and Miguel Andujar, the New York Yankees put a dozen on the board against the Chicago White Sox in a commanding victory.
Aaron Judge mashed his league-leading 27th home run, rookie call-up Miguel Andujar had a historical debut and Masahiro Tanaka delivered his second consecutive quality start as the New York Yankees took the third game of a four-game set against the Chicago White Sox with a 12-3 victory tonight in Chicago.
After outdueling Yu Darvish in his last start, Tanaka was once again dominant, tossing six innings of two-run ball, allowing six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
Highlights
Continuing a trend that has been evident in all three games of this series so far, Chicago’s subpar defense helped New York take a first inning lead.
Brett Gardner started the game with a walk, taking second on a Carlos Rodon wild pitch with Gary Sanchez at the plate. Another errant pitch, this time to Didi Gregorius, allowed the speedy Gardner to take third.
Gregorius then grounded to shortstop Tim Anderson, who botched the throw to first base, allowing Gardner to score and Gregorius to reach, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
Andujar Says “Hello MLB”
After Rodon walked Chase Headley and Austin Romine to load the bases, Miguel Andujar laced a sharp single up the middle in his first big league at-bat, plating both Gregorius and Headley to give the Yankees a 3-0 first inning lead.
Andujar notched his second hit in as many at-bats in the top of the third, a scorching single to left field that recorded an 112.1 mph exit velocity. But the ball got to Melky Cabrera quick, giving the former Yankee plenty of time to throw Headley out at home plate, keeping the score 3-0.
Finicky Fifth
Tanaka had been cruising through the first four frames but encountered trouble in the fifth. A leadoff single to catcher Omar Narvaez, a double to Adam Engel and a walk to
A leadoff single to catcher Omar Narvaez, a double to Adam Engel and a walk to Yolmer Sanchez loaded the bases with no outs. Cabrera delivered with a single to left that scored both Narvaez and Engel to pull the White Sox to within one at 3-2.
Baby Bombers Make Man-Sized Noise
Tyler Wade was not to be outdone by his fellow rookie Andujar, collecting his first big league knock in the top of the sixth. Wade’s two-out double to right field scored Romine, who had doubled two batters earlier, giving the Yankees a 4-2 lead.
Ronald Torreyes followed suit with his own two-bagger, scoring Wade to make it a 5-2 contest. White Sox manager Rick Renteria came out to make what appeared to be a pitching change but turned into a tirade directed at the umpiring crew that led to his inevitable ejection.
White Sox manager Rick Renteria then came out to make what appeared to be a pitching change but turned into a tirade directed at the umpiring crew that led to his inevitable ejection.
Following Renteria’s dismissal, Brett Gardner hit a ground ball single to center, scoring Torreyes for a 6-2 lead. And then the superstar and potential MVP Aaron Judge blasted his Major
AL MVP candidate Aaron Judge then blasted his Major League-leading 27th home run of the season: a line drive missile that cleared the wall in left to put things out of reach as the Yankees grabbed an 8-2 lead.
Judge wasn’t the only one to clear the fences, as Didi Gregorius, hitting fourth, launched a two-run blast of his own that made it a 10-2 ball game.
Andujar tied a bow on his incredibly impressive debut in the top of the ninth by smashing a double to center that scored Headley and Romine to give the rookie four RBI, making him the first Yankee rookie in history to record three hits and four RBI in the first game of his career.
Adam Engel hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth off of rookie lefty Tyler Webb to make it a 12-3 contest, where the score would remain for the duration of the game.
Green With Envy
Chad Green came on in relief of Chasen Shreve in the bottom the seventh, inheriting two runners and with just one out. The righty escaped trouble and worked a scoreless eighth, striking out three of the five batters that he faced.
A performance like that could go a long way toward solidifying his place on the 25-man roster.
What’s Next
The Yankees send the young right-hander Luis Cessa (0-2, 6.57 ERA) to the hill Thursday, while Chicago will counter with veteran righty James Shields (1-1, 4.24 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 P.M. and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB.tv.
