White Sox stun Yankees on 2-out walk-off

June 27th, 2017

CHICAGO -- The White Sox had one hit among their eight baserunners over the final two innings of a 4-3 win over the Yankees on Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field. But that one hit was enough to produce their second walk-off victory of the season and snap a four-game losing streak.
's single with two outs in the ninth set the excitement in motion by scoring pinch-runner and . Abreu beat , who walked two and hit one to load the bases with one out. flew out to left for the inning's second out, with all three runners holding, before Abreu delivered. Abreu had a chance with the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth against but struck out swinging.
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"In the at-bat before the last one, I went up thinking of just getting a good fastball to hit against Clippard," said Abreu through interpreter Billy Russo after recording his third career walk-off hit and his first since April 23, 2016, vs. Texas. "He didn't throw me a good fastball and I couldn't make the adjustment. But in the last one, I was just ready to hit the ball, just to focus on a good pitch to hit and I did it. That was probably the change between the last two at-bats."

Yankees starter set a career high with 12 strikeouts and didn't issue a walk over seven innings of one-run ball. It wasn't until the Yankees rallied for three runs in the eighth off reliever Tommy Kahnle that Severino had a chance for victory, as they erased a 1-0 deficit.
Through seven, this game featured a battle between Severino and White Sox starter . The White Sox ace gave up two hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out six and walking four. He left with a 1-0 lead, an advantage erased by 's two-out single to center off of Kahnle bringing home to tie the game. followed with a double to right-center scoring two and giving the Yankees a short-lived advantage.

Severino (23 years, 127 days) became the youngest American League pitcher with at least 12 strikeouts and no walks since Jason Bere (22 years, 105 days) of the White Sox on Sept. 8, 1993, vs. Boston.
"I think everything went well," Severino said. "My fastball command was really good tonight. My slider was good. We threw a lot of changeups for strikes or for chase. Everything was working today."

Quintana lowered his June ERA to 1.78, having allowed six earned runs over 30 1/3 innings during that stretch. Quintana's ERA has dropped from 5.60 to 4.37 in that span.
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"It's just been him commanding the zone, attacking," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "A lot more strikes."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
One was almost enough: Severino made one mistake, and even that mistake wasn't exactly crushed when Abreu drove in the White Sox first run in the third. opened the frame with a single and moved to second on 's single before Abreu rolled a grounder in between first baseman and the line for a RBI double.

"He threw the ball well," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He had a really good slider tonight and a really good fastball, and actually he threw some good changeups. I thought he mixed them in well. You go seven innings and he gives up the one run. You hope that when you get big hits by Judge and Sanchez, it's going to be enough, but it wasn't."

A great escape: Clippard has been struggling mightily, but the veteran delivered in a key moment to guard the lead in the eighth. Rookie walked the first two hitters and Clippard issued a free pass to Cabrera that loaded the bases. Clippard struck out Abreu and got to fly to right before losing on a close 3-2 pitch, forcing home the second Chicago run. Clippard and Matt Davidson engaged in a 10-pitch at-bat that ended with Davidson waving at a 78.8 mph changeup.

"I felt like myself again," Clippard said. "The way the hitters reacted to my fastball was what I'm used to. It's a huge step in the right direction, for sure." More >
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"It's tough. Severino threw a hell of a game. We came back there, got a couple of big hits and Clippard gets out of that jam. I have the confidence in myself to get it done. I walked a couple of guys, hit a guy. That usually doesn't help. You can't just give free bases there. You've got to attack." -- Betances

"I want to thank God because we needed this win. We have been passing through a very rough path and I'm very thankful for the opportunity and I just did what I was supposed to do." -- Abreu
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The White Sox won for the first time this season when trailing after the eighth after going 0-40 in those situations. The Yankees suffered their first loss when leading after eight; they had been 30-0.

reached on a ninth-inning catcher's interference error for the 29th time in his career. That ties the all-time record set by Pete Rose.

WHAT'S NEXT
Yankees: will try to follow up one of his best starts of the season Wednesday as the Yankees play the third game of this four-game series at 8:10 p.m. ET. Tanaka blanked the Rangers over eight innings his last time out, permitting three hits while walking two and striking out nine. Tanaka is 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA in four career starts vs. the White Sox.
White Sox: makes his season debut for the White Sox on Wednesday with a first pitch of 7:10 p.m. CT at Guaranteed Rate Field. Rodon had been sidelined with left biceps bursitis, but made four injury rehab starts in the Minor Leagues to get ready for this start.
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