1. After getting Aroldis Chapman back from suspension for domestic violence earlier this week, the Yankees have been able to deploy their three-headed monster of Andrew Miller, Dellin Bentances, and Chapman for the first time in this series. After striking out eight times in 11 PAs yesterday against the trio, the Sox jumped on Bentances immediately in the seventh, resulting in three-straight hits and a run before the tall right-hander recorded an out. Bentances settled down, however, and the Yankees took the lead in the bottom half of the inning on a Chase Headley RBI double to the wall and never relinquished it again.
2. Miguel Gonzalez showed off both why the Orioles cut him and why the White Sox took a flyer on him Sunday, flashing a good splitter and a newfound cutter early on but losing his command after a trip through the lineup, resulting in a 4.2 IP performance of three earned runs and a ghastly five walks. As soon as Gonzalez’s command dropped a smidge, he was either missing the plate or right down the middle, and actually was lucky that long fly balls with home run distance from Mark Teixeira and Didi Gregorius hooked foul.
3. The White Sox also ended a club-record 12 game errorless streak with gaffes by Brett Lawrie and Alex Avila in late-game situations. Lawrie’s error hurt particularly, as it extended the Yankee half of the sixth to Carlos Beltran, who deposited his 400^th career home run in the left field bleachers against Zach Duke to take a 5-4 lead.
4. The struggles of the White Sox bullpen continued, as they coughed up four runs (three earned) in 3.1 IP. Three of those came on monstrous home runs- the aforementioned Beltran blast allowed by Duke, and a solo home run by Brian McCann in the eighth to give Chapman more runs than he needed.
5. The White Sox return home to face the Houston Astros on Tuesday after tomorrow’s day off. They send Carlos Rodon, Mat Latos, and Chris Sale against a scuffling Astros team. Despite their poor road trip, their division lead sits at 5 over the second-place Indians and 5.5 over the third-place Royals. The White Sox will play 11 straight games against Cleveland and Kansas City after wrapping up their series against Houston.

Team Record: 24-14

Next game is Tuesday vs. Houston at 7:10pm CT on WPWR

Lead Image Credit: Anthony Gruppuso // USA Today Sports Images

1. There was a chance that Quintana would unravel early on in this game, but he straightened out. After working a quick first inning and getting the first two outs in the second, he ran into some trouble. First he walked Chase Headley, and Aaron Hicks followed with a booming double to center field which allowed Headley to score. Then Didi Gregorius knocked Hicks home on a base hit, making the score 2-0. The Sox caught a break when Austin Romine hit a ground-rule double, a play in which Gregorius would have scored easily had the ball not bounced over the wall. Quintana managed to induce a ground out from Brett Gardner ending the threat with runners on second and third.

2. Todd Frazier hit a home run. Are we surprised? Of course not. It was a straight line drive dinger over the left-center field wall, and it brought the Sox within a run in the fourth inning. Unfortunately, it was the last time they would score on the day. Frazier is now up to .221/.313/.507 with 12 home runs. It’s so nice to have an infielder who rakes.

3. Other than the Frazier home run, there was not much else going on offensively. Nova was surprisingly good despite his 4.34 ERA coming into this game; it seems like the Yankees have made him more of a two-pitch pitcher (sinker and curveball) and it was a successful approach today. Nova allowed just the one run on four hits and a walk over five and two-thirds innings.

4. The Yankees’ lead into the sixth, combined with their desperation to pick up a win against Quintana, led to an early look to their shutdown bullpen. Dellin Betances came in to pick up four outs (four strikeouts), Andrew Miller picked up three (two strikeouts), and then Aroldis Chapman finished up for the save (two strikeouts). Luckily for the White Sox, they won’t have to face all three tomorrow.

5. Despite the victory with Chris Sale on the mound last night, this was a little disappointing. Nova is not the best pitcher in the world, so failing to score more than one run against him really ended this game in the sixth inning with that bullpen waiting in the wings. They still have a shot to win the series tomorrow, as Miguel Gonzalez will take on Masahiro Tanaka at 12:05 CT.

Team record: 24-13

Lead Photo Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports