“Yankees’ Disastrous Opener: Pitching Meltdown and Offensive Flop Lead to 12-2 Loss to White Sox”
The New York Yankees didn’t kick off their series against the Chicago White Sox on Monday as they’d hoped, suffering a 12-2 defeat.
Here’s a breakdown of the Yankees’ performance in the lopsided loss:
Luis Gil struggled to replicate his recent success.
Yankees rookie pitcher Luis Gil had been impressive in his previous five starts, posting a 1.93 ERA over 28 innings. However, Monday’s outing was a different story. Nicky Lopez drew a leadoff walk for the White Sox in the bottom of the first, and Gil then gave up RBI doubles to Andrew Benintendi and Gavin Sheets, resulting in a 2-1 deficit after the first inning. Things got worse in the fourth inning when Gil surrendered a leadoff home run to Korey Lee, followed by a double four pitches later. Lopez later singled in the White Sox’s fourth run of the game. Gil lasted just four innings, allowing seven hits and four runs in the loss.
The Yankees’ bullpen couldn’t stop the White Sox’s momentum.
Tim Hill took over in the fifth inning but allowed three consecutive hits, leading to another run. After that, Hill managed to retire seven straight batters to finish his night. Enyel De Los Santos relieved Hill in the seventh with one out but immediately found himself in trouble, giving up five straight hits before Brooks Baldwin hit a three-run homer. By the end of the inning, the Yankees were down 11-2, and De Los Santos allowed a 12th run to score in the eighth.
Despite the bullpen’s rough outing, Aaron Boone only had to use two relievers, preserving the rest of the bullpen for the remaining two games of the series.
The Yankees’ offense failed to support their struggling pitchers.
The Yankees started strong, with Alex Verdugo and Juan Soto both drawing walks in the first inning. Aaron Judge’s double gave them an early lead, but the middle of the lineup couldn’t capitalize further. The Yankees didn’t record another extra-base hit for the rest of the game and went just 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position. The offense was unable to keep pace with the White Sox on Monday.