Three things White Sox need to turn the tide

NEW YORK -- On a hot and fiery day at Yankee Stadium -- as evidenced by a fifth-inning benches-clearing incident, fueled by a tense situation between Tim Anderson and Josh Donaldson -- the White Sox ended up burned in Saturday’s series-opening 7-5 loss.

Here are three key takeaways as Chicago (19-20) fell below the .500 mark after faltering against the team with the best record in baseball.

1. White Sox need an answer for the Yankees
After dropping three of four games to the Yankees (29-10) last weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field, being outscored 32-15 in the process, the White Sox found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard again Saturday. It’s a trend that spans multiple years at this point, as they are now 2-11 in their last 13 games against New York dating back to June 2019.

The White Sox managed 11 hits on the afternoon but struck out 14 times combined against Yankees starter Nestor Cortes, who led the way with seven, and New York’s stingy bullpen. Chicago went 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.

“We got a lot of hits, but we mixed in a lot of good at-bats with too many strikeouts,” said manager Tony La Russa. “A couple more balls in play, maybe [we’d] get another run or two.”

Though these two May series are the only meetings between the two clubs this season, the White Sox and Yankees are two of the top contenders in the American League -- at least, that’s the conversation Chicago hopes to play itself into.

But for the Sox to live up to the high expectations they set for themselves, they will need to start changing their fortunes against New York, especially before the prospect of a battle in October emerges.

2. Sox could use some consistency from Keuchel
White Sox starter Dallas Keuchel, in contrast to his club, has had much success against the Yankees throughout his career. Entering Saturday, he boasted a 2.06 ERA and 64 strikeouts against the Bronx Bombers in 10 starts, having worked seven-plus innings six times.

But the tide turned sharply for Keuchel on Saturday, as he allowed six runs on six hits with three walks (one intentional) in just four frames. DJ LeMahieu did the bulk of the damage, smashing his second career grand slam to right field in the second inning.

“I really feel like I was making some quality pitches,” Keuchel said. “… [but] LeMahieu had a good swing on a pitch and, you know, unfortunate circumstances. But I gotta make a better pitch there, and I really felt like that was the right pitch, just the wrong location. Other than that, I'm sitting there making a quality start, putting us in a good position.”

Though La Russa added that Keuchel “just wasn’t quite as sharp,” the southpaw’s season so far has been marked by pendulum swings. He’s now sporting a 2-4 record with a 6.60 ERA in 30 innings, and the White Sox will need him to find a groove as June approaches.

3. A return to form for Abreu would ease Chicago’s woes
José Abreu, who came down with a head cold Saturday morning, was moved to designated hitter when Yoán Moncada was scratched shortly before first pitch with right leg soreness.

Though La Russa said he was ready to sit Abreu, too, the slugger relented, saying that he felt good to go -- and the White Sox were fortunate that he was.

Abreu proved it in the third inning, launching a three-run homer to left field to bring the Sox back within striking distance. With that, he was the lone White Sox player to do damage against Cortes, who also had Chicago’s number last Sunday, tossing eight innings of one-run, three-hit ball.

“We did a much better job, made him work harder, got the runs,” La Russa said. “I mean, he's legit though. But we did a better job of competing against him.”

But even Abreu has been part of the White Sox offense’s overall struggles this year -- he’s hitting .210 with a .647 OPS -- and they will try to buck that trend in Sunday’s doubleheader, when they will have a shot to pull out a series victory.