NEW YORK — It’s not enough to say the Yankees have had the White Sox’ number in recent years. They’ve had all the Sox’ numbers, letters, symbols and any other markings you can think of.
Since 2024, when the Sox set a major-league record with 121 losses, the Yankees entered the teams’ meeting Wednesday 12-2 in the head-to-head series. They had won eight in a row, during which time they had outscored the Sox 48-13, including a 12-2 drubbing Tuesday.
But even last year, Yankees manager Aaron Boone saw better days ahead for the Sox.
“We saw Colson Montgomery last year. We saw [Kyle] Teel last year. We’ve started to see some of their young players start to emerge,” Boone said. “We’ve heard about some of the pitching that’s coming for them, as well. We’ve seen [Sean] Burke and Davis Martin and them seemingly take another step.
“And then some of the support pieces that they’ve added have been really good and continue to emerge, as in [Miguel] Vargas. Offensively, they seem very real, and it seems like they’re developing pitching, with seemingly more on the way.
“They’ve got the first pick coming up here next month [in the draft], so they have the look of a team that has a chance to be formidable for a long stretch here.”
Boone’s Yankees are formidable now, providing the Sox with quite the measuring stick. They have the best record in the American League, their league-leading run differential was 95 runs better than the next-best team — and they don’t have sluggers Aaron Judge (fractured rib) and Giancarlo Stanton (calf).
Acuna matata
After a good start to his Sox career, Luisangel Acuna had been in a funk. He ended May with his batting average at .165 and his OPS at .389.
But since the calendar flipped to June, Acuna was batting .500 with a 1.105 OPS entering Wednesday. What happened?
“He’s elevated the ball on the pull side,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “He had a stretch there where he wasn’t getting the results from his work. He’s such a dynamic player. To still have 11 stolen bases, to play the defense that he’s been playing, I think is special.”
“I haven’t changed much,” Acuna said. “I’ve been doing the same thing that I was doing in spring training. The results, of course, weren’t there before. Now they’re a little better. But [I’m] just sticking to my routine.”
Acuna doesn’t get the at-bats of Sox regulars, making those 11 steals more impressive. Venable said he’s as good a shortstop as starter Colson Montgomery, and with left-hander Carlos Rodon on the mound Wednesday, Acuna played short and Montgomery moved to third.
Initially, Acuna took over center field from Luis Robert, whom the Sox dumped on the Mets in the offseason trade for Acuna. Robert has played only 24 games because of a back injury and isn’t close to returning, so the Sox won the deal no matter how you spin it.
But with Tristan Peters having taken over in center, Acuna’s versatility is coming in handy, particularly with a better bat.
Notes
Reports were mixed about the first rehab games for catcher Kyle Teel and left-hander Noah Schutlz on Tuesday. Teel went 2-for-3 with a homer, but Schultz allowed two runs in 1 ⅔ innings with three walks and four strikeouts. Most importantly for the Sox, both felt healthy afterward.
• For the series this weekend in Detroit, the Sox will start Erick Fedde on Friday and Davis Martin on Sunday. They’ll figure out the middle game Saturday later. The Tigers are scheduled to start Tarik Skubal, Troy Melton and Justin Verlander.