White Sox 6, Yankees 5 (12 innings): Edgar Quero’s walk-off single ends a wild night

What a wild night. 

It ended when Edgar Quero produced his second walk-off hit of the season with a bloop single that scored Tristan Peters, but documenting how the game came to that moment would be a short novel. In a game of numerous twists and turns, the White Sox's 6-5 victory now gives them an opportunity to split the series tomorrow afternoon, which looked so improbable over the first half of the game. 

For six innings, the White Sox had zero answers for Yankees starter Cam Schlittler. Overpowering with the fastball, at times touching 100 mph, Schlittler continued his domination away from Yankee Stadium. Entering the night, Schlittler had a 1.08 ERA in road starts and was looking to lower that already absurd stat line.

But in the seventh inning, Schlittler appeared to be mortal. After walking Munetaka Murakami and hitting Miguel Vargas with a pitch, Andrew Benintendi hit a double to score the only run against Schlittler, which managed to raise his road ERA all the way to 1.10. At 93 pitches, Yankees manager Aaron Boone decided that his ace had done enough, and it was time for his excellent bullpen to pick up the slack.

That's when the game turned in the White Sox favor.

It started with Chase Meidroth hitting a leadoff double, and Yankees reliever Paul Blackburn entering the game to face Sam Antonacci. On a 1-1 inside fastball, Antonacci pulled the 95 mph offering just deep enough to right field for a two-run homer. Antonacci’s eighth home run of the season breathed new life into the White Sox.

On the very next pitch, a joyous scream that could be heard blocks away from Rate Field was let out when Murakami golfed Blackburn’s low curveball for a solo home run. What had the makings of another dour night on the South Side turned into instant jubilation. 

The game went into extra innings, and those three innings were just chaos. Both teams found ways to escape jams without allowing a run. Yankees took a 5-4 lead in the 11th inning thanks to an Anthony Volpe sac fly, but then catcher Ali Sanchez literally threw that lead away when trying to back pick Murakami at third base. Sanchez's bizarre, errant throw into left field allowed Murakami to score, tying the game again at 5. 

Jordan Hicks had 12th-inning duties and was in a sticky situation with the bases loaded and having to face Ben Rice. After peppering Rice with triple-digit heat, Hicks got the Yankees slugger to chase after a low sweeper for the strikeout. Next was Sanchez, who had a chance to redeem himself, but could only ground out to Meidroth, resulting in another scoreless extra inning by White Sox pitching. 

It was frustrating to watch White Sox hitters in extras, with a runner on third and one out, hitting grounders to the left side of the infield. Quero, Randal Grichuk, and Luisangel Acuna all had chances to provide the winning swing but failed. It was the second opportunity for Quero, who dropped the head of the bat on a low changeup from Ryan Yarbrough, that finally did the trick. The blooper traveled at an exit velocity of 68.4 mph 227 feet, probably just far enough for a sac fly if Trent Grisham had caught it, but Grisham had to get it on a hop, and Peters slid home safely. 

Prior to the White Sox comeback, the story was going to focus on Davis Martin’s performance. Much like Anthony Kay the previous night, one bad inning hurt Martin’s final line. In a rocky first inning, Martin allowed four runs, highlighted by Spencer Jones hitting a three-run homer. 

After that opening frame, Martin settled in. In his next five innings of work, Martin only allowed two hits, no runs, one walk, and struck out five. Venable pushed Martin to the max by having him throw 106 pitches. It was a grindy performance for Martin, who tried everything to help keep his teammates in the game.

The White Sox four-run comeback keeps Cleveland 1½ games back and picks up another game on Minnesota in the standings. That's more breathing room for the players in the clubhouse, as soon as they catch their collective breaths after tonight’s game. 

Game Notes: 

• Munetaka Murakami went 1-for-4 with the big home run, but also scored three runs. He has scored 57 times in 72 games this season. 
• White Sox bullpen: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• Luisangel Acuna pinch-ran for Colson Montgomery in the eighth inning. 

Record: 56-51 | Box Score | StatCast