White Sox flip the script, edge Yankees 9-8 on Field of Dreams
And the game lived up to the billing — even if it was spoiled for the Yankees,who thought they had crafted a Hollywood ending in the top of the ninth inning on Thursday with a pair of two-run homers from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to overcome a three-run deficit to take a onerun lead.
But playing in a stadium built on the set of the “Field of Dreams” in Dyersville, Iowa, Tim Anderson and the White Sox flipped the script in the bottom of the inning, as Anderson crushed a game-winning, tworun homer off Zack Britton with one out to send the Yankees to another crushing loss, 9-8.
After Judge and Stanton’s dramatic blasts into the cornfield beyond the outfield fence, the Yankees seemed set up to win for the eighth time in 10 games, especially when Britton got pinch-hitter Danny Mendick on a groundout to start the inning and then got ahead of No. 9 hitter Seby Zavala, 0-2.
But Britton ended up walking Zavala to bring up Anderson, who belted an opposite-field homer to end the night.
Aaron Boone went with Britton despite the fact the lefthander has not been sharp for much of the season after battling Covid in the offseason and then undergoing elbow surgery during spring training.
Boone insisted Britton’s stuff has been better lately and he was coming off an effective performance in Kansas City on Wednesday.
Anderson’s blow will no doubt add more questions about Britton’s status, especially with Jonathan Loaisiga pitching as well as he has.
Both teams waxed poetic about the event at the stadium built for the game to honor the film, with actor Kevin Costner on hand.
Asked about their propensity for suffering brutal losses, Boone said, “This one doesn’t rank up with some of the other ones, frankly. A good team got us. They were the last one standing. We’ll move on from this one like we have.”
Or not. New York has not been able to move on from third place in the AL East since May and are still chasing a wild-card spot.
Yankees starting pitcher Andrew Heaney gave up three more homers. The left-hander has given up eight homers in his three starts with the Yankees since coming over in a trade from the Angels. He’s also allowed 15 earned runs in 15 innings.
Heaney gave up a two-out solo homer into the cornfield in left to Jose Abreu in the first.
Aaron Judge hit an oppositefield three-run homer to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead in the third, but Chicago answered with an RBI double from Anderson and a three-run home run by Eloy Jimenez that made it 5-3.