Doubled Up: Yankees crushed by White Sox 14-7
It was a forgettable night for the New York Yankees on many fronts. Their rookie pitcher, Adam Warren, made his major league debut which lasted all of 2 1/3 innings and once reliable reliever, Cory Wade, practically duplicated the same effort in his appearance. Their best pitcher of the night was reserve outfielder Dewayne Wise and that should just about tell the story.
Warren will likely head back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after allowing six runs on eight hits, including two home runs and two walks. He was staked to a 4-0 lead after Derek Jeter set a great tone with a lead-off double. It was hit number 3,185 for Jeter, leaving him all alone in 13th place on the all-time hits list, moving out of a tie with Hall of Famer Cal Ripkin Jr.
Curtis Granderson was next up and he jumped all over a Jose Quintana fastball, depositing it into the right center field bleachers. Alex Rodriguez walked with one out and Nick Swisher singled with two outs before Andruw Jones laced a two-run double short-hopping the center field wall.
After a first inning in which he issued two walks, but no runs, Warren was back out for the second inning with a four run lead. It was short-lived. A.J. Pierzynski was the first batter in the inning and blasted a home run to right center. It quickly went downhill for Warren from that point on. He allowed two straight singles and then a two-run double to Gordon Beckham. Kevin Youkilis added a RBI-groundout and the game was tied at 4-4 after two innings.
In the third, Warren allowed another lead off homer, this one to Paul Konerko, and Pierzynski added an infield RBI-single. Warren would allow one more hit before giving way to David Phelps, who was a late roster move purposely made for this situation. Phelps was not completely stretched out after being sent down to the minors prior to serving as a reliever with the Yankees. His status was the main reason why Warren was called up in the first place and now we see why.
The Yankees offense tried to stay in a game in which they were eventually steam-rolled. Jayson Nix cracked a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at six. That was as close as the Bombers would get in this one and it lasted one batter.
Pierzynski hit his second homer of the night to put the White Sox ahead for good in the top of the fifth. Phelps ended up allowing one more run on an Alex Rios RBI-single in the sixth. Phelps did his best to keep it close, and just lost steam once his pitch count reached the high 50’s/low 60’s. He ended the night allowing two runs on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.
Heading into the top of the seventh, the Yankees were still within striking distance down 8-6 and then Wade put an exclamation point on a terrible month. Wade began the outing with a 11.05 ERA in June and left with a 13.97 ERA for the month. He allowed six earned runs in 2 1/3 innings and completely let the game and maybe his time with the Yankees get away. Wade has allowed 10 runs in his last three innings watching his season ERA sky-rocket to 5.79.
The bright spot of the night, besides Jeter’s milestone hit, was Wise’s effort to mop up Wade’s mess. He threw seven pitches total, reaching 82-mph on the radar gun and got Konerko to fly out and Rios to bounce into a force play to end the dreadful inning.
The Yankees (46-30), losers of two straight, are now four games up on the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. The White Sox (42-35) are winners of four straight and have a 3 1/2 game lead over the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central.
Hiroki Kuroda hopes to extend his good fortune in June and provide the Yankees with some length in today’s game. Kuroda (7-7, 3.40 ERA) is 3-1 with a 2.38 ERA this month. He’ll face Jake Peavy (6-4, 2.84 ERA) who has lost his last three starts despite a 2.05 ERA during the stretch.
Expect some roster moves today from the Yankees as Phelps should be able to amp his pitch count up in five days to replace Warren for Wednesday’s start against the Tampa Bay Rays, and something needs to be done with Wade, though that is pure speculation on my part. There will be at least one move to give the Yankees another arm in a tired bullpen, most likely Ryota Igarashi, who was the player left of the 25-man roster to make room for Phelps.
One benefit to last night’s mess is that Joe Girardi got to rest David Robertson and Rafael Soriano. Robertson has been treated with kid gloves since his return and Soriano had worked four out of the last six games entering play. Hopefully Kuroda can get them to the eighth or else Wise may see some more time on the mound. Why not, he’s never allowed an earned run.