CHICAGO — Shortly before the Yankees began a three-game series against the White Sox, Aaron Boone was asked what it’s like to play a 28-91 team that’s on pace to finish with the worst record MLB has ever seen.
“Is it tough coming into a series where if you win, you’re supposed to win against a team that’s historically bad, and if you lose, it’s catastrophic?” a reporter wondered.
“You know, when we don’t win, it’s usually catastrophic,” Boone said, a quip that referenced how some can overreact any time the Yankees lose. “When we do win, it is what it is. We’re on a mission to try and be a great team, to be a championship team, and most of us have been around long enough to know that every night you set foot on a big league diamond, you’re capable of losing and you’re capable of winning. Ultimately, it comes down to you gotta play well.
“If we play well, we should put ourselves in a good position.”
The Yankees did not play well on Monday, nor did they put themselves in a good position. Instead, one of baseball’s better teams humiliated itself against the bottom-feeding White Sox, losing 12-2.
The White Sox had gone 3-27 in their last 30 games, a stretch that saw them fire manager Pedro Grifol after tying an American League record with 21 straight losses. But when asked if the evening’s loss served as a wake-up call for the Yankees to not take lesser opponents for granted, Alex Verdugo said “no.”
“I think this was a normal day,” the left fielder said. “Another day where it just so happens that we’re on the tough side of it. It’s baseball, right? I mean, yeah, they’re one of the worst teams if you want to put it that way. But these guys are still big leaguers. They can still have days where they’re clicking.”
The night actually started on a positive note for the Bombers, as an Aaron Judge double gave them a quick run in the opening frame. But Luis Gil allowed two in his first inning of work, as ex-Yankee Andrew Benintendi and Gavin Sheets hit their own RBI doubles.
After the inning, Gil could be seen throwing his glove and hat in the Yankees’ dugout.
“What you saw right there is frustration because I’m executing what I want out there,” he said. “I’m executing the plan that I want, but I’m not getting the results I want.”
Luis Gil was frustrated after giving up two runs in the first inning
(via @TalkinYanks) pic.twitter.com/17oqpYRwxy
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 13, 2024
Positive results remained hard to come by after that, as Korey Lee smoked a 407-foot solo shot in the fourth before Nicky Lopez singled a run home.
In addition to four earned runs, Gil totaled seven hits, two walks, three strikeouts and 98 pitches over four innings. With the Yankees’ bullpen spent after a busy Sunday, the righty offered his shortest start since July 2.
“I felt really good actually with the slider, the changeup and the fastball,” Gil insisted. “But there are good days and bad days, and today was not a good day for us overall.”
Following Gil’s departure, ex-White Sox reliever Tim Hill surrendered another RBI double to Sheets. The first baseman added yet another run-scoring two-bagger in the seventh before Dominic Fletcher produced a run with a single.
Chicago didn’t stop there, though, as Corey Julks lined an RBI single before Brooks Baldwin smoked a three-run homer. The White Sox totaled six runs in the seventh; all were charged to Enyel De Los Santos.
“He had a hard time putting guys away,” Boone said.
The White Sox added one more in the eighth on a Sheets single that Ben Rice should have fielded at first.
Meanwhile, the Yankees scored a second run in the fifth on an Anthony Volpe single.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. showed off his speed on that knock, scoring from second despite the ball never getting past Lopez, Chicago’s shortstop, in shallow left field. However, Chisholm got roughed up sliding into home, and Rice hit for him in the seventh.
A press box announcement later disclosed that Chisholm suffered a left elbow injury. He saw a White Sox team doctor and is scheduled for an MRI on Tuesday.
“I’m not super concerned about it,” Chisholm said, describing the injury as soreness.
The Yankees’ two runs came off rookie starter Ky Bush, but they should have had more considering the southpaw walked seven batters over 4.2 innings.
The Yankees, who have struggled against lefties all year, had a chance to do more damage against Bush in the fourth inning. But with runners on first and second and nobody out, Verdugo popped a bunt up on an 0-1 count. Juan Soto proceeded to groundout, so the Sox intentionally walked Judge to load the bases for Giancarlo Stanton. The move worked, as Stanton struck out on a check swing to end the inning.
While Boone refused to answer where the bunt came from, Verdugo said he decided to do so on his own.
“All the bunts are always on me,” he said. “I gave myself one chance to kind of see one and try to put a swing on it. Took a strike, and he made a pitch up and in that I kind of didn’t really wanna bunt, but was already kind of out there and just got a little lazy with it and popped it up. But that’s like the first bunt I’ve ever popped up. So it happens.”
Judge, meanwhile, came a few feet short of hitting a grand slam for his 300th career homer in the second inning.
Wasted runners doomed the Yankees all game, as they left 16 on base and went 2-for-18 with men in scoring position against a pitching staff that ranked second to last in ERA, WHIP and FIP before the day began.
“We gotta just do a better job of coming out and cashing in those runners that we had on base,” Verdugo said.
Added Boone: “Just not able to break through. That wasn’t the issue. We couldn’t keep them off the board.”
Now 70-50, Monday’s game represents just one loss for the Yankees in the grand scheme of things. But with the dog days of summer underway, a team with World Series aspirations can’t afford to waste too many easy opportunities.
With the Yankees in a tight divisional race with the Orioles, every win matters.
“Every time you lose is a missed opportunity,” Boone said. “We’re playing for a lot every freaking day. So it sucks to lose. Really good, exhilarating when you win. But either way you turn the page.”
Originally Published: