Mike Clevinger had a tough test Friday night as he continues to ramp up to regular-season strength. In his last outing against Cleveland, Clevinger only allowed one run off a solo home run in 4 2/3 innings on 73 pitches. The difficulty level increased on Friday night with Clevinger facing a New York Yankees offense that entered the night leading the American League with a team OPS of .756.
The Yankees didn't take long to welcome Clevinger to the Bronx. Aaron Judge demolished the right-hander's 3-1 fastball for a 433-foot home run with an exit velocity of over 114 MPH. Quickly, the Yankees had a 1-0 first inning lead.
The White Sox offense had runners on the corners in the first inning but couldn't scratch a run. Fortunes changed in the third thanks to Zach Remillard. On a slow grounder up the third base line, Remillard reached on a two-base throwing error from Oswaldo Cabrera. Remillard would later swipe third base when catcher Austin Wells short-armed his throw. With a drawn-in infield, Andrew Vaughn capitalized by hitting a line drive into left field for an RBI single.
It wouldn't be a tied game for long. In the bottom of the fourth, Judge led things off with a walk and advanced to second when Martin Maldonado was charged with a passed ball. Next was Alex Verdugo, and his liner fell just in fair territory down the right-field line. As it bounced off the side wall, Judge scored, and Verdugo slid safely into second base. Giancarlo Stanton made it back-to-back doubles as his 406-foot drive to center field bounced off the wall. Quickly, the Yankees had a two-run lead-up of 3-1.
In the fifth, the White Sox had a promising rally in the making. It opened with Remillard reaching base again with a walk, and Tommy Pham picked up his second base hit of the night with a single. With nobody out and runners on, the White Sox had a golden opportunity to turn the game in their favor. However they couldn't capitalize on this either, with a harmless foul out from Vaughn, Remillard being picked off at second base, and Eloy Jimenez grounding into an easy force out at second base. These missed opportunities were a running theme .
Clevinger matched his second start for innings pitched, by lasting 4 2/3 innings again on 78 pitches. He allowed three earned runs on five hits and struck out five while walking two batters. Tanner Banks was first out of the bullpen and got out of a jam in the fifth inning. Starting the sixth, Stanton bashed his 10th home run of the season with a 417-foot blast traveling at 116.2 MPH.
Down 4-1, the White Sox mounted another rally against an old friend. Ian Hamilton, who was part of the White Sox organization from 2016 to 2020, took over in the eighth and had a rough go at it. A lead-off double from Pham set the table for Vaughn, who cashed in a second time with another RBI single. That cut the lead down to 4-2, and things got very interesting when Gavin Sheets pinch-hit for Paul DeJong and smashed a double to center field. With runners in scoring position and one out, the White Sox had an excellent chance of tying the game.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone replaced Hamilton with Caleb Ferguson, who struck out Andrew Benintendi. Corey Julks lined out to right field, ending the threat. That would be the last White Sox rally as Yankees closer Clay Holmes continued his dominance in 2024, pitching a scoreless ninth inning for his 13th save.
Game Notes
- White Sox had plenty of opportunities as they went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position with Vaughn accounting for both.
- Pham went 3-for-5 and increased his season OPS to .866
- Update on .100 Watch: Maldonado went 0-for-3 and his season batting average dipped to .097
