For most of Thursday night at Yankee Stadium, this game was a tightrope act. Sean Burke was dealing — flat-out lights-out, keeping the Yankees offense quiet and giving the White Sox every reason to believe they could win this thing. The problem was the offense couldn't crack the scoreboard either, and heading into the 8th inning it was still 1-1. A gem going to waste is one of the most painful things in baseball, and Sox fans knew it.
Sox can’t piss away this gem piece from Burke, give me a crooked number here fellas
The offense heard him. Camilo Doval came in to close it out for New York, and the White Sox sent up Andrew Benintendi — off the bench, pinch hitting. What happened next was the kind of swing that makes a road trip feel like a success. Benintendi went deep, and it wasn't a solo shot. Grand slam. 5-1. Just like that, the game was over.
Benintendi rounds the bases as the Yankee Stadium scoreboard flips from 1-1 to 5-1 White Sox in the 8th.
The reaction from the Sox faithful was exactly what you'd expect — relief, disbelief, and a whole lot of noise. A road series win in the Bronx against the Yankees is never supposed to be easy. Burke was the story for 7-plus innings, but Benintendi doing Benintendi things off the bench sealed it. That's the kind of mid-season moment that actually matters when you're trying to build something.
My God the sox needed that. What a damn gem by Burke. Benintendi doing his mid-season stuff 1 of 3 against NYY on road is perfectly fine. That stretch was supposed to be a fog shit stretch but nope!!! Take 2 of 3 vs. DET then let’s go home
The broader context here is important. This was supposed to be a brutal stretch — a road trip to New York that most Sox fans probably penciled in as a loss column filler. Instead they took 2 of 3. Burke was genuinely elite on this night, and the fact that the offense bailed him out rather than squandering his effort means something. Soft part of the schedule coming up. Good time to be feeling it.