Gamethread: White Sox at Yankees

Can you believe this crap? All you gotta do is rescue the spirits of an entire franchise and fanbase, inspire 100,000 hashtags and memes, and become the first pitcher since 1908 to have no walks and no more than one run in his first two starts, and you get free swag!

As a few grumps out there have pointed out, OK, Kopech only had one start, really. His two-inning flopsweatfest hardly counts. And while he might not have walked anyone, he’s hit three guys in his career already.

Not that I’m gonna pee on the “Kopey” debut, oh no. I was one of those idiots who thought he should have been up here hurling at the start of June. And this just in, from resident crabapple/Eloy Kopech advocate larry:

White Sox take their first bite of the Big Apple tonight. Don’t mind the maggots.

Perhaps you’ve heard, but in spite of the Red Sawx’s 175-win pace, the goofy Tampa Bay Rays just swept them this weekend, and by virtue of the Yankees thrashing the bejeezus out of the Bowie/Delmarva/Norfolk/Bladensburg/Aberdeen Orioles, New York is just six games back of Boston with five weeks to play. That’s a surmountable lead.

The White Sox have four games left against the Yanquis and three vs. Boston, all played in the next seven days, so we’re going to have a say in how the AL East finishes up. The statement is likely going to be some form of, “Boys, you go on ahead and duke it out, we won’t get in your way,” but there’s no better chance for Chicago to play spoiler than in this upcoming week of games. Tonight, it begins: