For about six weeks, Starlin Castro had played through an achy right wrist – finally sitting on Sunday to allow a cortisone shot to do its work.
Castro was back in the Yankees’ lineup on Monday night, but not for long.
One of the game’s most durable players, Castro was forced out of Monday’s game with a strained right hamstring, creating a further strain on the Yankees’ injury-plagued roster.
A stint on the 10-day disabled list seemed assured for Castro, who was in the trainer’s room as the Yankees held on for a 6-5 win against the White Sox before 20,339 fans at Guaranteed Rate Field. Tyler Wade, being groomed for an all-purpose role, is expected to be called up from Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take Castro’s spot.
Though the Yankees had a five-run lead to start the ninth, Aroldis Chapman was summoned for the final two outs after Tim Anderson’s three-run homer off Chase Shreve.
Chapman gave up an RBI double to Jose Abreu before getting Avisail Garcia on a grounder and getting Todd Frazier on a fly ball to end it.
Rookie lefty Jordan Montgomery proved steady again, tossing seven strong innings and keeping the Yankees (40-33) atop the AL East while the AL Central’s last place White Sox (32-43) bumbled their way to a fourth-straight loss.
But the loss of Castro – in the midst of a potential All-Star season – is especially tough for a Yankee team that just placed Aaron Hicks (right oblique) on the DL, and is still operating without starter CC Sabathia (strained hamstring), reliever Adam Warren (shoulder inflammation) and the can’t-get-started Greg Bird (bruised right ankle).
After a month on the concussion DL, Jacoby Ellsbury returned to the Yankees’ lineup on Monday night and scored twice as the Yankees chased lefty starter David Holmberg during a three-run sixth.
Castro, who started 72 of the Yanks’ first 74 games, exited with the White Sox leading 1-0 in the third. Batting second in the lineup, Castro seemed to have a sure infield hit with a dribbler toward third base. But Todd Frazier barehanded the ball and threw out Castro, who began pulling up a few feet from first base. A moment later, Castro was being helped off the field by head athletic trainer Steve Donohue and manager Joe Girardi.
Just recalled from Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a series of early Monday transactions, Rob Refsnyder replaced Castro at second base. Entering the game, Castro learned he was second among AL second basemen in the All-Star voting, trailing only Houston’s Jose Altuve.
Castro is the Yankees’ team leader with 29 multi-hit games this year, and his 92 hits ranked him tied for second in the AL as Monday’s play began, and his .315 batting average was seventh best in the league. Having lost 10 of their previous 12 games and six straight road games entering Monday night, the Yankees began clawing back during a three-run fourth inning.
After Aaron Judge led off with a walk, Frazier’s error on a Gary Sanchez grounder led to Tyler Austin’s game-tying sacrifice fly.
Ellsbury’s single to center was followed by Chase Headley’s RBI single to left, and a Ronald Torreyes sac fly made it 3-1, though Headley was erased on the bases for the final out.
Austin’s one-out, solo homer in the sixth off Holmberg (1-2) was his first since being recalled on Saturday to replaced Chris Carter, who was designated for assignment. But two more White Sox errors led to two more Yankees runs in the sixth.
Ellsbury reached on Holmberg’s bobble, moved to third on Headley’s double off the center field wall and scored on a Romine sac fly after a tough at-bat. And when first baseman Matt Davidson dropped shortstop Tim Anderson’s throw from shortstop on a Torreyes grounder, Headey scored from third to make it 6-1.
Torreyes played shortstop as Didi Gregorius received a day of rest against a lefty starter.
Montgomery (6-4) gave up just a Frazier leadoff homer in the second, yielding five hits and a walk and striking out eight batters. The AL East was separated by five games as Monday’s play began, but “we felt it’d be a very tough division, a tight division the whole way through,” Girardi said. “And it’s kind of living up to that.”
New York Yankees first baseman Tyler Austin hits a solo home run during the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports
