Yankees offer tough early test to White Sox originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Asked about the Yankees’ deep roster ahead of Friday’s game, White socks Manager Tony La Russa took his response in a different direction.
“It’s not just the composition,” said La Russa, who added that the Yankees are a “well-rounded club.” “The tee shot was good; the bullpen was outstanding.
New York has looked like baseball class for a month, and the White Sox got their first potential glimpse of what might be in store for them in October halfway through this weekend’s four-game series on the South Side.
New York won both games, by a combined score of 25-11, after Friday’s 10-4 win over the Sox.
“It’s a team that’s hot right now,” Gavin Sheets, who homered for the third time in four games, said of the Yankees, who moved to a 24-8 MLB lead. with victory.
“And it’s a team like this that you have to beat in October to reach the end goal, a World Series.”
The Sox entered this weekend 7-1 in their last eight games.
The Yankees roughed up White Sox starter Vince Velasquez for seven runs and eight hits (three home runs) in five innings. Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson have each gone deeper into it.
On the other side, Gerrit Cole threw 6 1/3 innings 3-run, scattering six hits while striking out nine for a walk.
Velasquez, who allowed five runs through the first two innings, said he felt out of sync from the start.
“This team is very selective when it comes to finding what they like,” Velasquez said of the Yankees. “If you don’t execute, they’ll capitalize. Look at the leaderboard, look at what they’re doing.
New York is 9-2 in May.
“They’re going to ambush,” Velasquez added. “When you don’t have your best gear, it makes things a bit more difficult. You’re going to have your good days, you’re going to have your bad days.
“It’s just a matter of getting back on the horse and getting back to work.”
The White Sox have two more games against the Yankees this weekend to change the narrative, not to mention three more in the Bronx next week.
Outside of the Sheets homer, the White Sox’s best chance against Cole came in the first inning, when they charged one out and failed to score.
Are the Sox hitters collectively trying to do too much?
“It’s unfortunate,” Sheets said. “It’s baseball. It’s a game of chess, and it’s who can fail the least. Right now, collectively, as a whole, we’re not swinging as well as we can. But in same time we have a lot of guys that can really hit here.
“We are in May, it is still early. I will take this team, however, long term. Right now it may be difficult, but in September, October, I always like our chances. There’s way too much talent here to panic.”
Leaves was asked when it stops being too early.
“End of October,” he said with a wry smile. “That’s the best I can give you.”
“We’re going to keep playing as hard as we can and trying our best and trusting the talent here, with the work ethic. We are well.”
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