Yankees 12, White Sox 3: Miguel Andujar has a night he will never forget

Last night’s game was a heart-breaker. Tonight’s game was an eye-opener. The Yankees won 12-3 and four of those runs can be attributed to Miguel Andujar’s amazing major league debut.

It has been a while since the Yankees’ offense exploded for double-digit runs. I’ve missed it. You’ve missed it. We’ve all missed it. The scoring started in the first inning. Didi Gregorius hit a routine grounder, but a throwing error allowed Brett Gardner to score and keep the inning alive. That error would lead to Miguel Andujar’s first major league at bat, an RBI single to score Gregorius and Chase Headley. That alone would have been an impressive start for the rookie. There was much more.

In the top of the 3rd inning, Andujar laced another single to left-field. He almost notched his third RBI of the game, but Headley was gunned out at the plate via a strong throw from Melky Cabrera and a questionable send by Joe Espada. The offense was then pretty quite until the top of the 6th inning. Tyler Wade had his first major league hit, an RBI double that scored Austin Romine. Congratulations are definitely in order for that hit. Ronald Torreyes, the backup infielder who actually does do something every game, brought in Tyler Wade with a double. Brett Gardner singled to score Toe and that was all that happened. Oh wait, no it wasn’t. That other popular rookie who leads the major league in home runs, one Aaron Judge, hit a laser beam dinger to cap off the five-run inning.

The Yankees would add four more runs in the top of the 9th inning. That other popular rookie who leads the major league in walks, the aforementioned Aaron Judge, drew his second walk of the game. Sir Didi Gregorius, the wisely chosen clean-up hitter, laced a home run to right field. After Headley and Romine both walked, Andujar would finish his night with a 2-run double that missed being a 3-run home run by inches. Andujar went 3-for-4 with two hits, a walk, a stolen base, and four RBI. What a debut. He can stay.

On the pitching side of things, Masahiro Tanaka did well. It was not a gem like his previous outing, but Tanaka gave the Yankees a decent six innings tonight. He gave up six hits and two earned runs while walking two and striking out five. The bullpen would be called upon to get nine outs tonight, which is easier said than done lately. Chasen Shreve actually pitched pretty well. He would have had three outs if not for a botched pop-out by Gardner and Wade in LF and a literally blown pop-out that Torreyes couldn’t catch. It was windy. Chad Green came in and gave the Yankees 1.2 innings of shut out baseball. Tyler Webb, one of the four Tylers, would finish the night off. He allowed a solo home run, but still finished off the White Sox.

An equally impressive night from both sides of the baseball coin tonight. With the Twins defeating the Red Sox 4-1, the Yankees are back to being tied with them for first place in the AL East. Yay. They will go for the series win tomorrow at 8PM. Luis Cessa will face off against James Shields.