The New York Yankees Lost the First Game of a Doubleheader on Sunday
Aroldis Chapman‘s struggles continued in the first game of a doubleheader against the White Sox on Sunday, as he gave up two runs in the ninth inning of a tied game, allowing Chicago to win 3-1 in the Bronx.
With Chapman’s future as the team’s long-term closer in doubt, he took the mound in the ninth inning and gave up a home run to Chicago outfielder A.J. Pollock on the second pitch of his outlining — coming off a 95 mph fastball high and inside.
After walking Andrew Vaughn, the reliever threw two wild pitches, allowing the base runner to advance to third base.
Outfielder Adam Engel then doubled to left field off a Chapman slider, allowing the inning’s second runner to score and putting the White Sox up 3-1.
Manager Aaron Boone, who has stuck by Chapman despite his struggles of late, had enough and pulled his closer in favor of righty reliever Ron Marinaccio, who got the team out of the inning with the next two outs.
Meanwhile, the Yankees offense was uncharacteristically quiet, with the team with the best record in the league recording only 8 hits and striking out 9 times.
Aaron Judge, the team’s designated hitter for the game, had a solid game, securing three hits, including his MLB-best 15th home run to tie the game at one run each in the eighth inning.
However, Judge’s efforts were mostly in vain, as the Yankees were unable to string together consecutive hits and left 8 runners on base throughout the low-scoring game.
The Bronx Bombers now have a 29-11 record heading into the second game of the doubleheader. A win on Sunday would give New York their tenth consecutive series victory, while a loss would be their third in four games.
NEXT UP
Yankees: RHP Gerrit Cole (4-0, 2.89 ERA) starts the first game of a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.
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