Yankees 6, White Sox 1: Erik Johnson's island

Erik Johnson got it from all sides today.

The offense scored only one run for him, and it was an Avisail Garcia solo shot after he'd already left the game. Before and after, the lineup suffered from the same constipation that's plagued it all series. Melky Cabrera grounded into a pair of double plays -- including one with runners on the corners and the Sox trailing 1-0 -- while Rob Brantly added another. J.B. Shuck was also thrown out trying to steal on a strikeout, so hey, make it four.

The defense devolved to its April state in the first inning, as  Jose Abreu committed a pair of first inning errors on consecutive plays by fumbling the exchange in his attempt to get the lead runner at second. That led to an unearned run and set the tone for a laborious 5⅔ innings.

And for some reason, Robin Ventura was hellbent on getting six out of him. Johnson threw a whopping 121 pitches, including 26 in two-thirds of that sixth inning.

He started the inning by giving up a solo shot to Dustin Ackely to fall behind 2-0, then, after a popout from Didi Gregorius, Slade Heathcott singled to bring Don Cooper to the mound.

That didn't reap immediate dividends, since Brendan Ryan singled to turn the heat back on. With Zach Putnam warming up, Robin Ventura had to a chance to lift Johnson. Instead, Johnson stayed and got Jacoby Ellsbury to pop out, which inspired enough confidence to let Johnson subsequently walk Brett Gardner and Carlos Beltran on nine pitches combined. The Beltran walk didn't drive in a run because a Rob Brantly passed ball opened first base and made it a 3-0 game (this could've been listed in the paragraph about defense). After that 121st pitch missed, Ventura brought in Putnam, and he struck out Brian McCann to end the inning.

I guess the Yankees were tough for Johnson, too. They put 12 guys on base (not counting the two errors), so it was a grind for Johnson the entire afternoon. They're supposed to get in the way, though.

Bullet points:

*Garcia's homer was a blast to the deepest part of Yankee Stadium off Josh Wilson. Not bad.

*Shuck prevented further damage in the first by making a tremendous running catch in the right-center gap. It was as great a play as Abreu's twin errors weren't.

Record: 73-83 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights