Rookies steal the show as Miguel Andujar drives home four runs in 12-3 Yankee win

After losing Tuesday night’s loss in heartbreaking walk-off fashion, the Yankees looked to bounce back with Masahiro Tanaka on the mound. Coming into the game, all eyes were on Miguel Andujar and Tyler Wade, who both made their first career starts. Both players made immediate impacts, recording their first big league hits, and Andujar had a huge 3-for-4 night with four RBIs. That was just the beginning as the Yankee bats came alive to score eight runs, and Tanaka showed more promise, firing a quality start en route to a commanding 12-3 victory.

Photo Credit: Nam Y. Huh | AP

The Yankees broke out early with three runs in the top of the first inning, thanks to a Tim Anderson error, allowing Brett Gardner to score. Andujar also knocked his first big league hit, which was a two-RBI single up the middle. That 3-0 lead would stay that way for quite some time during this game, as both offenses seemed to stay dormant, even with six walks given up by White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon.

Photo Credit: Nam Y. Huh | AP

The scoring drought would end with a bases loaded, two-run single by former Yankee Melky Cabrera. At the end of five innings, it was 3-2 Yankees. In the sixth inning, the Baby Bombers came out swinging, thanks to Tyler Wade’s first career hit, a two-run double to right field, and then the Yankees started to pile on. Ronald Torreyes doubled down the line scoring Wade to make it 5-2 Yankees. Brett Gardner then singled, scoring Torreyes, and then rookie sensation Aaron Judge smoked a line drive two-run homer to left field. With Judge’s home run, he still leads the majors in that category with 27, and that hit left the bat at an incredible 115.4 MPH.  

Photo Credit: Nam Y. Huh | AP

For the first time in a while, the Yankees blew the game open with an 8-2 lead after six innings. The Yankees would later add onto their lead with a two-run home run to right field of the bat of Didi Gregorius in the ninth inning, and a two-run booming double off the center field wall off the bat of the Major League debuting Andujar. With that, the Yankees had a 12-2 lead, but the White Sox added a third run off the bat of Adam Engel, who hit his 2nd home run of the season.

Coming off an epic duel with Yu Darvish last time out, Tanaka came out and gave the Yankees a very strong outing. The perfect combination of great starting pitching and two big innings at the plate helped the Yankees take this one 12-3 over the White Sox. The Baby Bombers also came up big, with a couple rookies gathering their first Major League hits to help weather the storm brought by injuries. Rookie Miguel Andujar racked up four RBIs on three hits during his debut. The Yankees have won two out of the first three games of this four game set, looking to take the series win tomorrow night.

Photo Credit: Nam Y. Huh | AP

The series finale is on tomorrow at 8:10 PM EST on WPIX 11. For the Yankees, they have Luis Cessa (0-2, 6.57 ERA) toeing the rubber against James Shields (1-1, 4.26 ERA) of the White Sox. The Yanks look to take the series and the lead in the American League East, where they currently sit in a tie at the top with the Boston Red Sox.

Winning Pitcher: Masahiro Tanaka: (6-7, 5.56 ERA)  6 IP, 6 H, 2 R (2 ER), 5 K, 2 BB, 0 HR

Losing Pitcher: Carlos Rondon: (0-1, 0.00 ERA)  5 IP, 2 H, 3 R (0 ER), 6 BB, 2 K, 0 HR

Notables:

Aaron Judge: 1-3, HR (27), 2 RBI, 2 BB, K

Miguel Andjuar: 3-4, 4 RBI, 2B, BB, SB

Tyler Wade: 1-4, 2B, RBI, R, 2 K

Didi Gregorius: 1-5, HR (9), 2 RBI, 2 R

Chad Green: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K

Melky Cabrera: 2-4, 2 RBI, K

Adam Engel: 2-3, 2B, HR (2), RBI

Article by: Vinny Romita

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