The White Sox walked into New York on Tuesday night as something few expected to see in June: a first-place team. Chicago opened a three-game series at the Yankees carrying a 38-32 record and tied with the Guardians for the AL Central lead, a turn that makes this matchup feel far bigger than a routine midweek set.
The Yankees arrived home having taken two out of three in Toronto, and they did it with late power from Paul Goldschmidt and Ben Rice in their two wins over the Blue Jays. That gives the series an edge from the start, with the Yankees trying to keep momentum while the White Sox try to prove their record is no accident.
Braden Montgomery is part of why the White Sox look different now. He hit a walk-off home run in his MLB debut last week, the kind of moment that can change the mood around a club quickly, even if it does not explain everything about a team that has spent the last couple seasons as one of baseball’s weakest. The White Sox had been notoriously bad, including a record-setting awful 2024, yet they entered this series in first place.
Gerrit Cole was scheduled to open the series on Tuesday at 7:05 pm ET against Davis Martin, who has been one of the White Sox’s biggest reasons for staying afloat. Martin entered with a 2.41 ERA and a 2.39 FIP in 13 starts, along with a league-leading nine pitching wins. He also had a rough first start of June, when he allowed six runs in 4.2 innings against the Twins, before bouncing back to shut out the Braves for six innings in his most recent appearance.
That should make the opener feel less predictable than the standings might suggest. Cole allowed two runs on five hits and two walks in four innings against the Guardians last week, and he has not faced the White Sox since August 2023, when Chicago scored four runs off him in seven innings. On Wednesday at 7:05 pm ET, Carlos Rodón was set to face Anthony Kay, who has a 100 ERA+ but a 5.23 FIP on the season.
The last game of the set brings the sharpest contrast. Ryan Weathers was scheduled for Thursday at 7:05 pm ET against Sean Burke, and Weathers has been hit hard lately, allowing seven home runs and 16 runs in 17 innings over his last three starts. He is still in the rotation for now, but those outings suggest a move out of it is coming whenever the Yankees get Max Fried back.
Munetaka Murakami was on the injured list and would miss the series, trimming one more layer of intrigue from a matchup that already has enough. The White Sox have gone from a club that looked buried to one sitting on top of the AL Central, and this series in New York will say a lot about whether that surge is real or still fragile.
