The Yankees completely routed the Chicago White Sox today in their 9-1 victory. What fueled the victory came in the fourth inning when the Yankees took advantage of the White Sox poor bullpen and even more lousy defense which made two errors in the inning. Jose Quintana was the starter for Chicago but a rain delay of almost two hours caused Robin Ventura to go into his bullpen to select failed starter Dylan Axelrod. The eight run fourth inning was the most the Yankees have scored in an inning all season long. That goes to show how poorly the White Sox are in their pitching and defense, alike. Each Yankee starter except Curtis Granderson recorded a hit however Granderson walked and scored a run in the Yankees fourth inning outburst. Brett Gardner had two more doubles in the game to bring his season total to 31 doubles which is good for first on the Yankees this year. Robinson Cano has 28 doubles which is low for the slugger, considering he usually hits over 40 two-baggers every season.
Phil Hughes was able to record four outs before the prolonged rain delay but David Huff stepped into his place to deliver 5.2 innings of solid pitching, giving up only one run on a Paul Konerko solo home run in the seventh. Huff continues to impress the Yankees. He is pitching lights-out in his last four appearances and the Yankees are looking at him to replace Phil Hughes in the rotation for the remainder of the season. Hughes would be better suited in the bullpen where he thrived in 2009. Hughes uses too many pitches to start and a stint in the bullpen before he hits free agency may boost his value to interested teams.
A couple of Yankees made their Major League debuts today. Cesar Cabral pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out two batters and showing something to Joe Girardi in the process. JR Murphy, a switch-hitting catcher who has done well in the Yankees system pinch hit for Cano in the eighth and hit a hard ground ball to third that couldn't be handled for his first Major League hit. Murphy will remember this day for the rest of his life. With those two players making appearances for the Yankees, the team has set a franchise record for players used with 52, surpassing their previous record in 2008 and 2005 with 51 players used.
The Yankees are in good position to at least take the series from Chicago after today's blowout win. Chris Sale and Hiroki Kuroda will face off in tomorrow night's game as Kuroda looks to stop his personal three game losing streak. Sale has a 2.99 ERA with only a 10-12 record for the losing White Sox. With the Yankees recent additions from the right side of the plate in Soriano and Alex Rodriguez, Sale will have his work cut out for him.
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