Walk-off!
Early on, the Yankees struggled to get anything going against Chris Sale. That wasn't surprising, but the four run inning to take the lead against him was. When the Yankees stormed back to take the lead, it looked like they were going to complete the sweep without much drama. But then David Robertson quickly blew the save and we were off to extras. After missing a chance to win the game with a walk-off once in the ninth, Brian McCann did the job the second time around and the Yankees picked up a sweep-completing 7-4 win over the White Sox.
The game did not get off to the best start for the Yankees when Alexi Ramirez led off the game with a home run. That would be the game's only run for quite a while. Chris Capuano settled down after that, while the Yankees' offense couldn't get anything going against Sale.
In the top of the sixth, the White Sox got some offense going again. With one out in the inning, Jose Abreu blopped a single into right field. After Capuano struck out Avisail Garcia, Conor Gillaspie hit a two-run home run. With the way Sale was pitching, 1-0 looked like a difficult deficit to overcome. A 3-0 one looked close to impossible.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Yankees' offense finally found a pulse and found it in a big way. With one out in the inning, Martin Prado reached after left fielder Dayan Viciedo dropped a deep fly ball. With Prado on second, Mark Teixeira ripped a double to left. That scored Prado and made it 3-1. After that, Sale proceeded to walk Carlos Beltran on four pitches. Chase Headley would strike out, leaving the inning up to Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli drew a walk on five pitches to load the bases. Then on the first pitch of the next at bat, Zelous Wheeler was hit by a pitch. That scored a run and made it 3-2. Ichiro Suzuki then added a single. That scored two more runs and out of nowhere, the Yankees had a 4-3 lead.
When Esmil Rogers came out to start the seventh inning, Capuano's day was done. It got messy towards the end, but on the whole, it was an okay outing for him. He went six innings allowing three runs on six hits while striking out five. Rogers and Rich Hill combined to pitch a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
The Yankees couldn't add to their lead in the seventh and Adam Warren would come in to pitch the eighth. For the second straight day, Warren had a nice little outing of the pen. He threw a 1-2-3 inning, which included a big strikeout of Abreu.
Robertson came in to try and get the save after the Yankees couldn't pick up any insurance runs. Garcia came up first and he took a Robertson pitch over the right field wall and suddenly the game was tied. Robertson got the next three outs but it was a blown save and we were headed to the bottom of the ninth.
Jacoby Ellsbury, who had come in earlier for defensive purposes, led of the bottom of the ninth with a single. After Ichiro flew out, Stephen Drew was sent up as a pinch hitter. During Drew's at bat, Ellsbury stole second. After the steal, the White Sox opted to intentionally walk Drew to face Derek Jeter. That tactic worked as Jeter wound up grounding into a inning-ending double play. Off to extras we went.
David Huff came in to pitch in the top of the 10th. He got two outs, but allowed a pair on singles to Jordan Danks and Carlos Sanchez, bringing Abreu up with two on and two out. Huff hugely struck out Abreu to keep the game tied.
In the bottom of the 10th, the first two hitters went down in order relatively quickly. Beltran kept the inning alive with a two-out double. After Headley was intentionally walked, the Yankees sent up McCann as a pinch-hitter. On the seventh pitch of the at bat, McCann curled one just around the foul pole in right field for a three-run home run. In a game that went poorly, then well, then poorly, McCann made sure it ended well as the Yankees completed the sweep over the White Sox with a 7-4 win.
Tomorrow, the Yankees will head out to Kansas City to make up their rained out game against the Royals. The starting pitcher will be Michael Pineda and James Shields, and first pitch will be at 7:10 eastern.