McCann's Dramatic Homer Is Welcome Sight for Yankees
The Chicago White Sox have been suffering through a terrible season, but one of the few things they have to look forward to are the at-bats by the rookie first baseman Jose Abreu and the starts by Chris Sale, their ace left-hander.
Sale came into Sunday's game against the Yankees with a 10-3 record and a 2.12 earned run average. Sale is notably hard on left-handed hitters, who had only 14 hits in 104 at-bats against him this year. To counter that dominance, Yankees Manager Joe Girardi stacked his lineup with right-handed batters, leaving Ichiro Suzuki as the lone left-handed swinger in the bunch while giving players like catcher Brian McCann the day off to nurse various aches and pains.
Suzuki came into the game with a .356 batting average against left-handers, but he was in the lineup almost by default. Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury, two left-handed batters, were also given the day off.
On Sunday, Suzuki had a key hit against Sale, a two-out, two-run single in the Yankees' four-run sixth inning that brought them from behind and gave them the lead. But leading off in the ninth inning, Avisail Garcia hit a first-pitch home run off David Robertson.
It all just set the stage for McCann's pinch-hit three-run homer off Jake Petricka with two outs in the 10th inning as the Yankees won, 7-4, to complete a three-game sweep of the White Sox. They finished their homestand with a 4-2 record after losing the first two against the Houston Astros.
It was McCann's 15th home run, and it came on a full-count pitch. It was his third walk-off homer of his career and first as a Yankee.
Sale was typically dominant until the sixth inning when he lost his command. He walked two batters in the inning and hit Zelous Wheeler in the knee with a pitch with the bases loaded, drawing the Yankees to within a run, 3-2. Suzuki followed by sending a first-pitch changeup into right field as Carlos Beltran and Francisco Cervelli scored.
Earlier in the inning, Chicago left fielder Dayan Viciedo dropped Martin Prado's fly ball for a two-base error, and Prado scored on a double by Mark Teixeira.
Chris Capuano started for the Yankees and allowed three runs and six hits in six innings. He gave up a pair of home runs, one to Alexei Ramirez in the first at-bat of the game, and another to Conor Gillaspie in the sixth.
The Yankees now head to Kansas City for a game against the Royals, a makeup for a rainout June 9, then go to Detroit and Toronto for three games each.
INSIDE PITCH
Masahiro Tanaka, who is attempting to return from a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, will throw another simulated game Thursday in Detroit, Joe Girardi said. Tanaka threw 35 pitches Saturday, and according to Girardi, reported no problems afterward. 'I have not had any emergency meetings in my office,' he said. 'That's a great sign.' Girardi said the Yankees had not yet decided whether they would go to a six-man rotation if and when Tanaka returns, but it remains a possibility. 'We'll see how our starters are doing and what we think is important,' he said. 'Sometimes out of need you can't if someone else gets nicked up, that sort of thing.'
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