CHICAGO -- Reeling from a sweep in Boston and mired in a season-high five-game losing streak, the Yankees needed a solid performance from Lance Lynn on Monday night. Lynn delivered in remarkable fashion.
Making his first start for the Yankees after being acquired in a July 30 trade with the Twins, Lynn dominated the White Sox, striking out a season-high nine over 7 1/3 innings in a 7-0 victory. The right-hander allowed a walk and an infield single in the first inning and proceeded to retire 19 straight until Nicky Delmonico led off the eighth with a single.
"Both his fastballs, the two-seamer and his four-seam fastballs, the ability to pitch at the top of the zone," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of what made Lynn effective. "We saw a lot of elevated fastballs from him that were effective, but also that two-seamer, that sinker, he works down at the bottom of the zone. He mixed in enough offspeed, but I thought it was about the two planes with the fastball."

Lynn agreed with his new manager's assessment.
"That's something that helps me, no matter what outing it is, especially if I get a good one," Lynn said of his fastball. "I try to move it in and out, get them uncomfortable, mix in some breaking balls, let the team work."
With the Red Sox off, the Yankees trimmed their deficit in the American League East to nine games, and Lynn gave the bullpen a much-needed respite, as this was only the fourth time since the All-Star break a Yankees starter has gone six or more innings.
"When playing for the Yankees, it's a little different," Lynn said when asked whether he felt extra pressure in his first start for his new club. "I came into this start knowing I needed to do my job and I needed to do it at a high level, and I came out, had a good start, our offense gave me some runs, defense did a great job. If we keep doing that, we can make a run."

Though Lynn threw 27 pitches in the first inning, he settled in and needed only 71 over his next 6 1/3. Lynn picked up 15 swinging strikes, including 12 on his fastballs.
In that first inning, Lynn said he felt a bit "overamped," something he usually deals with. While in St. Louis, Lynn felt as though the team could turn to him after rough patches, and he hopes he can do the same with the Yankees.
"That's all I'm about, when it's all said and done," Lynn said. "When you're on a winning team, what you have to do to help the team win is do your job, and that's who I am."
Backing Lynn, Didi Gregorius had two hits and an RBI, Gleyber Torres hit a solo shot for his 18th homer and Neil Walker went deep in the eighth as the Yankees pulled away.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Stand on 19: During Lynn's 19 straight retired batters, he allowed just two balls in play to reach the outfield -- Daniel Palka's fourth-inning flyout and Delmonico's fifth-inning can of corn. Eight of Lynn's nine strikeouts came during this stretch. Lynn now has 11 2/3 scoreless innings with the Yankees following his relief appearance on Wednesday.
"It's the best, the less time I'm out there on defense, the better," joked catcher Kyle Higashioka. "As a hitter, it's hard when you've got to worry about two different fastballs, and that along with mixing in his offspeed pitches, too -- he was just really effective."

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
White Sox center fielder Adam Engel kept a 2-0 deficit in the fourth from becoming a 5-0 chasm when he took away a three-run homer from Greg Bird. Bird's blast to center had an exit velocity of 103.4 mph and carried 405 feet for a hit percentage of 86. But Engel raced back to the center-field wall and pulled the ball back with a leaping grab.
• Bird robbed by Engel's amazing catch

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS, PART II
All Giancarlo Stanton could do was crack a smile after he couldn't hold up on Matt Davidson's 71.4-mph curveball in the dirt during the ninth inning. An infielder, Davidson was making his third appearance on the mound this season.

"Just wanted to get ahead and get in a good count to throw that pitch multiple times like I did," Davidson said. "Luckily, he didn't hit that hanging one 800 feet. I got away with that one."
SOUND SMART
Walker is hitting .433 (13-for-30) with a double, a homer and six RBIs over his last 11 games. All four of his home runs this season have come on the road.

HE SAID IT
"Look, it was a tough day coming in here, just with the travel, and for the guys to come out and play well, I thought our energy was good. We've gotta keep that going tomorrow, so it was a good start to this series, and hopefully CC [Sabathia] will take it from here tomorrow." -- Boone
UP NEXT
The Yankees will send Sabathia (6-4, 3.59 ERA) to the mound as their three-game series with the White Sox continues at 8:10 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Sabathia was pulled after just three innings vs. the Red Sox in his last start, having given up two runs on 77 pitches. The veteran lefty last faced the White Sox on July 4, 2016, allowing five runs in six innings. Right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (4-9, 4.77) gets the call for the South Siders.