A trip to middle-America has caused Yankees fans to start sweating when three losses to the White Sox, coupled with the surging Tampa Bay Rays, have dangerously cut the Yanks' lead in the AL East to just 2.5 games. It's gotten so bad Yankees manager Joe Girardi almost tore off the head of a heckler in a postgame press conference after just have been swept in the Windy City.
It was a sunny start for the Yankees in the first game when Chicago starter Gavin Floyd was chased by the 3rd inning by the Bombers, and his 0-3 score deficit could've been much worse. Freddy Garcia was cruising along for the Yankees and it wasn't until the 5th inning when the roof caved in on him. Chicago started their scoring with a 2-run homer from the released-Yankee Dewayne Wise.
Garcia couldn't get anyone else out and was yanked out in favor of Cody Eppley after going just 4.1 innings, but Rapada and Chamberlain would also be needed to finally get out of the 5th, and by then Chicago had taken a 5-3 lead. Derek Jeter brought his hot hitting on the road with him and hit a solo shot to bring the Yanks to 5-4 in the 6th. Both Mark Teixeira and Casey McGehee had RBI singled to reclaim the Yankee lead at 6-5. In the bottom of the frame, the struggling from his return from the minors Chamberlain, still in the game from the 5th, served up a solo homer to the bottom of the order hitter Gordon Beckham to blow the lead and let the game be tied at 6. The Chicago homers didn't end there; Alexis Ramirez went deep on Logan in the 7th and Adam Dunn took Derek Lowe yard in the 8th to give the White Sox the 9-6 lead. Addison Reed came on in the 9th to close it out for Chicago for his 22nd save of the season.
After blowing a tough game the night before in which the opposing starter was knocked out early, the Yankees got right back up on the horse and busted out into a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning off of old Twins pushover Francisco Liriano. Jeter lead off the game with a homerun, and later in the inning, Curtis Granderson grounded into a fielder's choice RBI with the bases loaded (a double or grand slam would've been nicer). Ivan Nova, who had the Yankees and their fans holding their breath with every start since the All-Star break, gave half one of the runs back in the 2nd from an AJ Pierzynski sac fly that scored Alex Rios, but held Chicago there. It wasn't until the 5th inning that Nova had his usual implosion. With the game already tied 2-2 from a homer Nova served to Konerko in the 4th, Nova gave up another big fly to Kevin Youkilis, but this time the bases were full for a grand slam. Nova was only able to go 6 innings and it was yet another miserable start for the young Yankee right-hander. After the game, and possibly a reason for his poor pitching lately, Nova was placed on the 15-day DL for shoulder tightness, but maybe its just to clear his head as well. Russell Martin added a solo homer in the 7th to bring the game back to a respectable 6-3 Chicago lead, but the White Sox added another run in the 8th to make it 7-3 and that's how the game ended.
Bad enough the Yankees were facing a sweep and continued to be stymied by the White Sox, but the Jekyll-n-Hide Phil Hughes on the road was on the mound for the finale. Hughes ended up spinning a good game over 7 innings, but the only problem was that Chicago's young lefty Chris Sale was slightly better. The White Sox got on the board first with an RBI fly out by Kevin Youkilis in the 3rd inning. Liking the Windy City air, Derek Jeter hit his third homer of the series in the 6th to tie the game at 1-1, but Hughes surrendered a homer to Alex Rios in the bottom of the 6th to give Chicago back their lead at 2-1. The Yankee bats were quiet again and Addison Reed finished them off in the 9th to complete the Chicago sweep. The Media had also been unfriendly for the Yankees as ESPN reporter Skip Bayless had open speculation that the 38 year-old Yankee Captain Derek Jeter might be using performance-enhancing drugs as a reason for his great hitting lately, and in the wake of positive tests recently from former Yankees Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon. After the final White Sox game, Yankees manager Joe Girardi interrupted his own press conference to go over and tell a heckling fan to shut up, which was captured by news cameras.
With the trailing Rays and Orioles seemingly never losing a game anymore, a series against the terrible Cleveland Indians, with the return of CC Sabathia from the DL, couldn't have have come at a better time...
It was a sunny start for the Yankees in the first game when Chicago starter Gavin Floyd was chased by the 3rd inning by the Bombers, and his 0-3 score deficit could've been much worse. Freddy Garcia was cruising along for the Yankees and it wasn't until the 5th inning when the roof caved in on him. Chicago started their scoring with a 2-run homer from the released-Yankee Dewayne Wise.
Garcia couldn't get anyone else out and was yanked out in favor of Cody Eppley after going just 4.1 innings, but Rapada and Chamberlain would also be needed to finally get out of the 5th, and by then Chicago had taken a 5-3 lead. Derek Jeter brought his hot hitting on the road with him and hit a solo shot to bring the Yanks to 5-4 in the 6th. Both Mark Teixeira and Casey McGehee had RBI singled to reclaim the Yankee lead at 6-5. In the bottom of the frame, the struggling from his return from the minors Chamberlain, still in the game from the 5th, served up a solo homer to the bottom of the order hitter Gordon Beckham to blow the lead and let the game be tied at 6. The Chicago homers didn't end there; Alexis Ramirez went deep on Logan in the 7th and Adam Dunn took Derek Lowe yard in the 8th to give the White Sox the 9-6 lead. Addison Reed came on in the 9th to close it out for Chicago for his 22nd save of the season.
After blowing a tough game the night before in which the opposing starter was knocked out early, the Yankees got right back up on the horse and busted out into a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning off of old Twins pushover Francisco Liriano. Jeter lead off the game with a homerun, and later in the inning, Curtis Granderson grounded into a fielder's choice RBI with the bases loaded (a double or grand slam would've been nicer). Ivan Nova, who had the Yankees and their fans holding their breath with every start since the All-Star break, gave half one of the runs back in the 2nd from an AJ Pierzynski sac fly that scored Alex Rios, but held Chicago there. It wasn't until the 5th inning that Nova had his usual implosion. With the game already tied 2-2 from a homer Nova served to Konerko in the 4th, Nova gave up another big fly to Kevin Youkilis, but this time the bases were full for a grand slam. Nova was only able to go 6 innings and it was yet another miserable start for the young Yankee right-hander. After the game, and possibly a reason for his poor pitching lately, Nova was placed on the 15-day DL for shoulder tightness, but maybe its just to clear his head as well. Russell Martin added a solo homer in the 7th to bring the game back to a respectable 6-3 Chicago lead, but the White Sox added another run in the 8th to make it 7-3 and that's how the game ended.
Bad enough the Yankees were facing a sweep and continued to be stymied by the White Sox, but the Jekyll-n-Hide Phil Hughes on the road was on the mound for the finale. Hughes ended up spinning a good game over 7 innings, but the only problem was that Chicago's young lefty Chris Sale was slightly better. The White Sox got on the board first with an RBI fly out by Kevin Youkilis in the 3rd inning. Liking the Windy City air, Derek Jeter hit his third homer of the series in the 6th to tie the game at 1-1, but Hughes surrendered a homer to Alex Rios in the bottom of the 6th to give Chicago back their lead at 2-1. The Yankee bats were quiet again and Addison Reed finished them off in the 9th to complete the Chicago sweep. The Media had also been unfriendly for the Yankees as ESPN reporter Skip Bayless had open speculation that the 38 year-old Yankee Captain Derek Jeter might be using performance-enhancing drugs as a reason for his great hitting lately, and in the wake of positive tests recently from former Yankees Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon. After the final White Sox game, Yankees manager Joe Girardi interrupted his own press conference to go over and tell a heckling fan to shut up, which was captured by news cameras.
With the trailing Rays and Orioles seemingly never losing a game anymore, a series against the terrible Cleveland Indians, with the return of CC Sabathia from the DL, couldn't have have come at a better time...
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