Playing like contenders at home hasn’t followed the White Sox out of Chicago. After losses to the Yankees on Tuesday and Wednesday—one marked by multiple home runs and two separate injury scares—the Sox say they still believe they can win in hostile settings,
NEW YORK — The White Sox arrived at Yankee Stadium with a reminder of what they do when the lights feel familiar. At home this season. they’ve been a revelation. going 24-12 at Guaranteed Rate Field with a plus-32 run differential. drawing big. loud crowds and finishing games with a sense of momentum.
Then they left town.
Away from home, the Sox have been far less steady. On the road, they’re 14-22 with a minus-35 run differential after Wednesday’s 10-5 loss to the Yankees. Their struggles have been loudest in New York, too. Tuesday brought a 12-2 thumping against the same opponent.
Manager Will Venable pushed back on the idea that this is simply what the team is when it travels. “We’ve played all right on the road,” he said. “It’s tough to come into some places and battle against some of these teams. Obviously, at home, we have a special environment, which the guys respond to. We’ve played exceptionally well at home.”.
But Venable didn’t dismiss the concern altogether. “But as far as characterizing us as a team that’s struggling on the road. I wouldn’t necessarily say that. ” he added. “I think we’ve run up against some tough matchups and maybe haven’t played our best games. But certainly [there’s] something special at home and just got to find ways on the road.”.
Right-hander Davis Martin, who had his worst start of the season Tuesday, offered a harsher version of the same point. “We’re playing really good baseball at home. and then you come to a hostile environment like the Bronx. ” he said after Wednesday’s game. “It’s not like this is some random stadium, this is New York. This is a hard place to play.”.
He framed it as a problem the Sox need to solve because of what’s at stake. “It’s a great place for us to learn how to play in big-time spots on the road. We have dreams and aspirations of making it to the playoffs this year. We don’t play all those games at home. We have to learn how to play good baseball on the road.”.
Wednesday’s game against the Yankees at least showed the Sox trying to fight back. Colson Montgomery hit two home runs for his first career multihomer game, and the Sox nearly tripled their hit total from the night before, finishing with 11 hits after 4 the previous game.
Still, the Yankees were too much—again. They hit three homers and totaled 13 hits.
Venable said it boiled down to pressure at the plate. “Got to credit the Yankees for making a ton of contact throughout the game, throughout the lineup,” he said. “A relentless effort by them, and we didn’t really have any answers for them.”
Starter Anthony Kay allowed the first momentum swing with a two-run homer he surrendered to Cody Bellinger in the first inning. Kay described it as a hit with unusually little room for error. “I feel I got a little bit unlucky,” he said. “That Belli ball was hit 92 [mph] with an expected batting average of .070. So that’s kind of Yankee Stadium luck right there.”.
He said the bigger shift came later when he attacked instead of getting caught in long at-bats. “Just grinding through some long at-bats was the problem early on. I think once I started attacking, got ahead earlier, the third and fourth inning went a little better than the first two.”
The physical toll of the game also landed on the Sox. Lefty reliever Sean Newcomb was drilled in the left tricep by a 98.6 mph comebacker off the bat of Anthony Volpe in the fifth. Newcomb left the game with a bruise, but said after the game he should be fine.
Later, Everson Pereira took an even more jarring hit. Ben Rice sent a ball 400 feet. with an expected batting average of .830. but Pereira ran it down in center field and crashed into the wall to end the seventh. He lay woozy, then eventually—slowly—walked off the field. After the game, he said he felt better but was being tested for a concussion.
On the scoreboard, the damage carried through a stretch that has featured matchups at the top of the standings. The Sox fell to 4-3 in this stretch against first-place clubs, with one more game against the Yankees on Thursday. These last two games left marks, and Venable acknowledged the feeling without turning it into an excuse. “These last two have been tough,” he said, “but these guys continue to battle and put themselves in good spots.”.
White Sox Yankees Will Venable Anthony Kay Davis Martin Colson Montgomery Sean Newcomb Everson Pereira Anthony Volpe Cody Bellinger MLB