With New York’s win and Baltimore’s loss last evening, the Yankees took sole possession of first place in the AL East. And tonight, the Bronx Bombers were intent on staying there. They won the rubber match, 10-2, and took the season series, 5-1.

Juan Soto picked up right where he left off and hit another home run in the second at-bat of the contest. The tandem of Soto and Aaron Judge is truly quite something to witness. The thunder in those two bats has combined for 77 round-trippers this year. In contrast, the entire Sox team has 81. Still ahead!

In the bottom of the first inning, Andrew Benintendi accomplished a career milestone of 1,000 hits when he smacked a double with two outs. Benny has been on a heater, slashing .310/.333/.828 over the past seven games.

1,000 career hits for Andrew Benintendi 👏 pic.twitter.com/nCjuSR28YL

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 15, 2024

The Good Guys hammered a bomb of their own in the bottom of the second when Gavin Sheets drove a solo shot out to left, knotting the score at 1-1.

Sheets’ hot bat showed up again in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single to right, driving in Andrew Vaughn and giving the Good Guys a 2-1 lead. After Miguel Vargas struck out, Dominic Fletcher followed with a single, keeping the inning alive. Unfortunately, on the next play, the Yanks caught Sheets stealing home on a boneheaded play. Plenty of fundamentals still need to be cleaned up on this squad.

Davis Martin threw 5 2/3 strong innings but ran into command issues in the sixth when he walked the bases loaded. He was solid on the mound for his second consecutive start, giving up one run on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts. The righthander even demonstrated some nice pop with his four-seam fastball, hitting 97 mph.

Justin Anderson came on in relief of Martin and struck out Anthony Volpe, preserving Chicago’s slim lead for a few more brief moments.

But, you know, Sox fans can’t have nice things. With one out in the top of the seventh, Dominic Leone replaced Anderson after he gave up a single to Oswaldo Cabrera. All at once, Leone activated 2024 bullpen meltdown mode, surrendering two runs on two hits with two walks and a wild pitch. The veteran left, down 4-2, with two outs after an apparent re-injury to an elbow that has caused him to miss significant time in 2024.

Chad Kuhl came on and struck out Trent Grisham to finish the inning, but the arm barn explosion continued into the eighth when the Yanks busted the game wide open, putting up a six-spot. Aaron Judge absolutely CRUSHED a three-run dinger, the 300th of his career. The MVP candidate accomplished this milestone faster than anyone in MLB history.

At risk of inviting him to be the new Rick Hahn, it should be pretty clear that fixing this pen should be at the top of Chris Getz’s offseason to-do list.

Tonight, the Sox had several defensive gems, including three by Fletcher. The first came in the top of the fourth when he made a dazzling sliding grab in foul territory to end the inning.

Then, with one out in the top of the seventh, he snagged a shot to right center but got tangled up with Luis Robert Jr. after the play. That, unfortunately, allowed the tying run to score from second due to the collision.

You don’t get to see the third one, but Fletcher made a fantastic jump catch at the center field wall to end the brutal eighth inning.

After an off-day tomorrow, the South Siders head to Houston for a three-game set. We’ll have your coverage here at Sox Populi.