[jksander]

May 8, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (1-2, 4.08 ERA, 28.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitched against Max Fried (2-3, 5.86 ERA, 35.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) in game one against the Yankees, and we had a real duel on our hands early on, until we broke it open in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Yordys Valdes! Chase Meidroth hit an RBI single moments later, and Heston Kjerstad added a flyball double that batted home Meidroth, giving us a 3-0 lead midway through the inning! Rasmussen got us through the bottom of the inning, and Jonathan Cannon took the ball in the sixth to keep us in control. Eduard Bazardo took over in the seventh, and it did NOT go well ... three hits, the final of which was a three-run homer by Chisholm Jr, and we had to pull him for Alvarado after just eight pitches. But we’ve tasted winning and seem to enjoy it, as we came out hitting in the eighth, scoring off an RBI double by Tauchman, and getting two more from a single by Valdes to lead 6-3 heading into the bottom of the inning. Ryan Helsley came out to pitch, and we added two more runs in the top of the ninth to put us firmly in control so he stayed out in the ninth as we manhandled the Yankees 8-3. How’s that for some offense, White Sox fans? We outhit them 11-7, led by Kjerstad with two hits, a run and three RBIs, and Alvarado took the win, improving to 1-0 with a 5.84 ERA after a three hit, two walk, one strikeout start by Rasmussen.
 
May 9, 2026: Dylan Cease (1-3, 4.06 ERA, 37.2 IP, 34 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) got the start in game two against the Yankees, taking on Brandon Woodruff (2-1, 4.15 ERA, 34.2 IP, 31 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the second thanks to an RBI single by Valenzuela that was coupled with an E9 throwing error that allowed Vargas to score. Brooks Lee then added on with a single that pushed home Vargas, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading 2-0. Cease got us into the stretch with that lead unchanged, and Luis Sanchez took over for him in the top of the eighth, striking out the side! He was in total control, shutting them down in the ninth as well as we were able to stump the Yankees 2-0! Cease gave us seven innings with six hits and seven strikeouts, improving to 2-3 with a 3.43 ERA, while Sanchez saved his third game, a two-inning effort with five strikeouts and no baserunners. We outhit the Yankees 8-6, led by Brandon Valenzuela, who hit three times and scored one of our two runs.

With the win, we’ve moved into a tie for second in the AL Central with the Twins, just 4.5 games back of the 21-13 Guardians as we are now just one game off of .500! After opening the month with a pair of losses, we’ve now gone 6-1 in our last seven games, and our run differential is inching closer to even, just at -5 now through 33 games!

May 10, 2026: Noah Schultz (2-1, 2.31 ERA, 39.0 IP, 46 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) pitched our final game against the Yankees, going toe to toe with Garrett Crochet (5-2, 2.00 ERA, 45.0 IP, 51 K’s, 0.96 WHIP), who is emerging as New York’s ace just 17 months after leaving our team in a trade for Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman Gonzalez. Both pitchers came into the game red-hot, so nobody expected a lot of offense in a very duel-worthy matchup. New York broke through the stalemate in the bottom of the fourth with a one-out solo homer by Aaron Judge, but Yordys Valdes hit a two-run homer in the top of the fifth to put us on top 2-1, just the third time the 24-year-old shortstop has homered this year! Joey Gallo hit one in the sixth, which amazingly was his first homer of the season, but Judge hit his second of the game in the bottom of the inning with two outs, keeping the Yankees close. Eduard Bazardo took over with two outs and nobody on, getting us out of the inning with a pop-up to center by Nathaniel Lowe, and Ha-seong Kim got into the homer sweepstakes with a solo blast in the top of the seventh to give us a 4-2 lead going into the stretch, his second homer of the year! Jose Alvarado took over in the bottom of the seventh, and with two outs the Yankees brought their fans to their feet with a two-run double by Blake Crim that tied this one up 4-4. Alvarado then let Anthony Volpe hit an RBI single to take the lead before we finally got out out of the inning. But in the top of the eighth, Valenzuela hit a hard shot into center-right, coming out of it with an RBI triple in all the outfield confusion, driving in two to put us back up 6-5! Julian Merryweather took over in the eighth with a runner on first, no outs, and he successfully kept us in the lead through the remainder of the inning, stranding runners on the corners. Ben Joyce came out to pitch in the bottom of the ninth still leading by one run, and with icewater running through his veins he held firm as we beat the Yanks 6-5 to complete the sweep! Alvarado blew the save, his first, but improved to 2-0 with a 7.42 ERA in the win, surviving a rough two hit, four walk three earned run performance. We matched them on hits, seven against seven, led by our eighth and ninth hitters in the lineup, as Valenzuela and Valdes each had a hit, a run and two RBIs (with Valenzuela walking once as well for good measure.

The win pulls us to dead even, 17-17, and we’re now in sole control of second place in the AL Central, a full game up on the Twins who are now 16-18. We’ll stay in New York for three against the Mets, who at 17-17 are also in second place in their division, trailing the Braves by three games. We’ve now won four in a row to their two, but this should be an incredible series as we start our season fresh!