Sean Burke held the Yankees to one run, and Andrew Benintendi delivered a tiebreaking pinch-hit grand slam in the eighth as the White Sox avoided a three-game sweep with a 5-1 win over New York.
When Sean Burke walked onto the mound against the Yankees, it wasn’t just another start. Growing up as a Red Sox fan in Sutton, Massachusetts, he brought personal stakes with him to the Bronx.
After holding New York to one run in 7 ⅓ innings, Burke left with a message for the people back home. “This one’s for my boys back home,” he said.
The White Sox needed every bit of it. After being battered 12-2 and 10-5 in the first two games of the series, they came out in a different mood on this one—limiting the Yankees to six hits—and they walked away from the opener of the finale with a 5-1 victory that prevented a three-game sweep.
The turnaround started early, with Bryan Hudson working as the opener. Hudson threw 1 ⅔ innings, and Burke followed to carry the load. Together, the two combined for 10 strikeouts, eight from Burke.
Manager Will Venable didn’t have to stretch the praise. “You’re hoping for a quality outing from him,” Venable said. “Obviously, he exceeded expectations; he was outstanding. Dominant with the fastball. Didn’t just give us a chance to win, but really minimized their offense altogether.”
Burke tied a career high in innings pitched in a game, and he had no interest in handing the night over. His intention, as it played out, became part of the plan after Andrew Benintendi swung the momentum.
Benintendi delivered the defining moment for Chicago in the eighth. After he came on for a pinch-hit situation. he hit a tiebreaking first-pitch grand slam that turned the scoreboard and helped put the Yankees in a position they never escaped. Burke described what it changed on the mound. “When Benny hit that ball, that grand slam was huge,” he said. “It makes it easier for Will to send me back out. Then I went out there for the eighth and had a quick inning and told him when I was walking back in. ‘Let me finish it. ’ and he was like. Yeah. go get ’em.”.
Benintendi’s confidence was backed by timing and form. June has been the best month of his career, and the numbers have kept climbing. The grand slam was his fifth homer of the month—one more than he hit in March, April and May combined. After posting an OPS of .687 in May, he’s at 1.083 in June.
The Yankees’ move in the bullpen came right before the at-bat. Yankees manager Aaron Boone replaced left-handed reliever Tim Hill with right-hander Camilo Doval, and Venable responded by bringing up Benintendi, a left-handed hitter, for right-handed designated hitter Randal Grichuk.
The pitch itself mattered. Doval threw a nearly 100 mph sinker, and Benintendi turned it into damage. “I was looking for one of his fastballs,” Benintendi said. “He’s got that four-seam and the sinker. [I was] kind of in between the two, more sitting on the speed.”
Benintendi said his approach was simple—find the ball and get it out of the infield. “Just [trying] to get the ball to the outfield, not try to do too much. He gets a lot of ground balls, so just try to lift something and get at least one [run].”
He did more than that. The drive went 393 feet to right field, and it brought in all four runs.
Chicago added to the cushion elsewhere, including a second-inning shot from Colson Montgomery. Leading off the inning, Montgomery hit his 20th home run of the season, tying Munetaka Murakami for the team lead. It was Montgomery’s fourth homer in his last four games, and it marked his 100th career RBI.
MLB researcher Sarah Langs has noted that since July 22, 2025—the day of Montgomery’s first homer—his 41 blasts rank second in the majors, behind only the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber (49). This season, Montgomery leads major-league shortstops in homers and is second with 45 RBI.
Defense also mattered late, especially after Junior Perez made his impact in the big leagues. Perez contributed in his big-league debut by throwing out Anthony Volpe from left field as the Yankees shortstop tried to stretch a double into a triple in the seventh. Perez recovered after Volpe’s drive went over his head.
Venable credited the effort. “Tough play up against the wall that he wasn’t able to make,” Venable said. “Did a good job getting to that ball with urgency and made a great throw.”
By the time the final outs were recorded, the White Sox had completed their stretch of series against the first-place Braves, Dodgers and Yankees with a 5-3 record. They’re heading back into division play Friday against the Tigers feeling better about themselves.
Still, the relief carries weight because the season hasn’t been kind to them on the road. Away from home, the White Sox are 14-22 with a minus-35 run differential after their 10-5 loss to the Yankees on Wednesday. Some of their worst losses of the season have come on the road.
In a season where the Sox have often felt the sting of this matchup. it helped that they finally won the version of the Yankees series that mattered. “It’s not enough to say the Yankees have had the White Sox’ number in recent years. ” the story’s tone suggested through the frustration of the past. “They’ve had all the Sox’ numbers, letters, symbols and any other markings you can think of.”.
With the call-up of outfielder Junior Perez from Triple-A Charlotte on Thursday, the Sox also tied the 1944 Reds for the most players to make their big-league debut before the All-Star break at 13.
For Burke, for Benintendi, and for a team trying to catch its breath after a brutal start to the series, the win wasn’t just a result—it was a release. In the Bronx, where the Sox had been beaten badly in the first two games, the mood finally shifted.
White Sox Yankees Sean Burke Andrew Benintendi grand slam MLB
Pinch-hit grand slam is crazy.
How do they go from 12-2 to 5-1 like that, sheesh. Also Bronx games always hit different I guess.
I thought Benintendi was on the Yankees for like a year? So wait was this a trade or something. Anyway pitching held them to one run but somehow it’s still “avoided sweep”?? math not mathing for me.
That quote about “boys back home” is sweet but cmon, it says he held them to one run then they won 5-1 so I’m like where did the 4 runs come from?? Also opener Bryan Hudson then Burke, so was Burke like starting or just coming in midgame? I’m confused, but good for Chicago I guess.