The Yankees jumped out early. Brett Gardner opened the home half of the game with a double, and reached 3rd base on an error. That may have shaken ChiSox starter Dylan Covey, because he gave up a 423-foot home run to center field. To Chase Headley.
That's Headley's 3rd home run in the season's 1st 15 games. He's on a 30-homer pace now. He was awful last year. He has come back so strong, I'm tempted to see if we can get a similar comeback from Stephen Drew.
(Uncle Mike ducks to avoid thrown objects.)
The 2nd inning resulted in more scoring. Aaron Judge led off with a single, Greg Bird hit a double, Austin Romine singled home Judge, and a Ronald Torreyes groundout brought Bird home. 4-0 Yankees.
The White Sox got a run off Masahiro Tanaka in the top of the 5th, but that was his only bad inning. The Yankees immediately struck back. Covey got the 1st 2 outs in the inning, but Matt Holliday and Jacoby Ellsbury both singled to center. Then came back-to-back home runs to left: Starlin Castro going 405 feet (his 3rd homer of the season), and Judge with an absolute blast, 451 feet (his 5th). Here come da Judge, there go da ball. Aaron Hicks added a short-porcher in the 8th (his 4th).
Bryan Mitchell pitched a perfect 8th, and got the 1st out in the 9th, before Joe Girardi needlessly brought in another pitcher to get the last 2 outs. Tommy Layne did get those outs. Yankees 9, White Sox 1. WP: Tanaka (2-1). No save. LP: Covey (0-1).
The Yankees are 10-5, after starting out 1-4. They went from a pace for 130 losses to a pace for 108 wins. Maybe this really is 1998 all over again.
The season is less than 1/10th old, but I have to say I like the way things are shaping up. The American League Eastern Division is currently tight: The Baltimore Orioles are 10-4, with the best record in the major leagues. The Yankees are 10-5, and the Boston Red Sox are 10-6. All 3 are officially within 1 game. The Tampa Bay Rays are 9-8, just 2 1/2 back. And the Toronto Blue Jays, well, they're as bad as the Yankees looked the 1st week, 3-12, easily the worst record in the major leagues.
Tonight, the Yankees begin a roadtrip with a 3-game weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. The Buccos come in at 6-9. Here are the projected starting pitchers:
* Tonight, 7:05: CC Sabathia vs. Tyler Glasnow.
* Tomorrow, 4:05: Michael Pineda vs. Jameson Tallion.
* Sunday, 1:35: Jordan Montgomery vs. former Yankee Ivan Nova.
The Yankees will be off Monday, and then, on Tuesday night, begin a 3-game series against the Boston Red Scum at Scumway Park in Scumtown.
Come on you Bombers! (Can't call 'em "you Pinstripes," because they're on the road.)