Luis Severino hit hard as Yankees fall to White Sox in Game 1 of doubleheader

NEW YORK — An Aaron Judge-less Yankees lineup wasn't the issue Thursday afternoon.

Pitching, on the other hand, very much was.

With Luis Severino hit hard a second straight start and the typically reliable Michael King also bit by the long ball, the Yankees fell to the White Sox, 6-5, in the first game of a straight double header at the Stadium.

Called on to protect a 5-4 lead in the seventh, King, who came in with a 1.65 ERA in 19 appearances and having allowed just one homer, gave up a two-run shot to Eloy Jimenez on a first-pitch sinker that gave the White Sox a 6-5 lead. Luis Robert Jr., already with a single and homer in the game, led off the inning with a double.

The Yankees (36-27) had nine hits, two each from outfielders Willie Calhoun and Jake Bauers and catcher Kyle Higashioka. Calhoun drove in three runs, two coming on his two-run homer in the fourth that tied the score at 4-4.

White Sox pitching retired 10 straight before Josh Donaldson, pinch hitting for Kyle Higashioka to start the ninth, walked against Kendall Graveman. Pinch runner Anthony Volpe, 14-for-14 in stolen bases, took off with pinch hitter Isiah Kiner-Falefa at the plate and the utility man hit a grounder that ate up second baseman Romy Gonzalez (it was inexplicably scored a base hit). Gleyber Torres, after just missing an opposite-field walk-off homer (the ball sliced foul), fouled out to first. Anthony Rizzo got ahead 2-and-0 before hitting into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play (the Yankees challenged that White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson pulled his foot from the bag at second but the call stood).

Severino, his velocity down and concern organizationally he had been tipping his pitches in his previous outing against the Dodgers when he allowed seven runs and nine hits over four innings, wasn't that bad Thursday.

But the righthander, terrific in his first two starts of the season after coming off the injured list May 21, wasn't good. Severino allowed four runs and six hits, including three homers, over five innings in which he walked two and struck out six.

His struggles, and King's hiccup, overshadowed a surprisingly productive day from an offense that will have to get used to being without Judge for the next couple of weeks at least, and likely longer than that.

White Sox righthander Lance Lynn, a Yankees trade deadline acquisition in 2018 who entered Thursday 4-6 with a 6.55 ERA, allowed five runs and eight hits over five innings. Relievers Gregory Santos, Joe Kelly, Reynaldo Lopez and Kendall Graveman – who earned his sixth save in six tries – shut down the Yankees from there.

After Lynn stranded two in the bottom of the first – Torres walked with one out and Giancarlo Stanton walked with two – the White Sox (28-35) took the lead in the second.

Andrew Vaughn worked a leadoff walk and Jake Burger ripped a 0-and-1, 96-mph fastball to center, his 13th homer making it 2-0.

The Yankees’ bottom of the order helped tie things up in the bottom half. Billy McKinney, called up from the minors, where he had nine homers, to replace Judge on the roster, tripled into the gap in right-center with two outs. Higashioka followed with an RBI double off the wall in right-center to make it 2-1. Calhoun, batting leadoff, grounded a single to left, which brought in Higashioka to tie it at 2-2. The hit made it 26 of 31 starts this season in which Calhoun reached base at least once.

The White Sox quickly retook the lead when Robert Jr. led off the third by tattooing a 2-and-1, 95-mph fastball into the netting overhanging Monument Park in center, his 14th homer making it 3-2. After Jimenez struck out, Yoan Moncada drove a first-pitch, 95-mph fastball to right, his third homer making it 4-2.

Calhoun struck again in the fourth. Higashioka singled with one out and Calhoun pounced on a 1-and-0, 93-mph fastball and sent it out to right, his fourth homer tying it at 4-4.

The Yankees took their first lead of the day in the fifth. Bauers, the Southern California native who had a big series last in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, doubled with one out. After DJ LeMahieu lined out – extending the infielder's skid to 9-for-61 – Cabrera sent a single to left, which brought in Bauers for a 5-4 lead.

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