NEW YORK — The Chicago White Sox shook up their rotation earlier in the week, inserting Brad Keller and shifting Michael Soroka to the bullpen.
While Keller was susceptible to the long ball Saturday, surrendering four solo home runs — including two to Juan Soto — Soroka pitched four scoreless relief innings in the first go-around since the switch during a 6-1 loss to the New York Yankees in front of 43,194 at Yankee Stadium.
Keller allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk in four-plus innings in his return to the rotation. His ERA went from 2.84 to 4.86. He’s made two starts and three relief appearances.
“Stuff felt good — made some mistakes, but just tried to settle in and get as deep in the game as I could,” Keller said. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get into the sixth or anything like that. Just got to be better.”
The four home runs allowed are a career high for Keller in a single game.
“You’ve got to keep the ball in the yard,” Keller said. “Fortunately they were solos, but obviously no one ever wants to give up homers, let alone four in a game.
“Got to keep the ball in the yard and make better pitches.”
Soto’s first homer — which went 412 feet and had an exit velocity of 112.5 mph — came during a two-run first for the Yankees.
Jose Trevino homered during a two-run second inning. Giancarlo Stanton homered one inning later, giving the Yankees a 5-1 lead. Soto homered again leading off the fifth. That solo blast went 437 feet and had an exit velocity of 110.5 mph.
“Keller was OK at times, but missed out over the plate enough to give up some runs,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “It just seems like every time you miss out over the plate with these big guys, they make you pay for it.”
Soroka took over for Keller later in the fifth. The right-hander had made nine starts with a 6.39 ERA leading up to his move to the pen. He allowed two hits while walking four and striking out a season-high seven Saturday in the second relief outing of his major-league career — the other coming against the Sox while with the Atlanta Braves last season.
“Burning it a little brighter in the bullpen and that was the switch we were looking for to start a game,” Soroka said. “Came out punching and things worked out. Still made mistakes, that’s the game, and just didn’t get punished.
“When you go in like that, it’s time to do a job and give the rest of the boys in the bullpen a day off.”
Soroka said the strikeout total showed him “that I have it.”
“I knew it was still there,” he said. “Had glimpses of it at the end of last year. It’s a different game when I know I have mid-90s in the tank.
“It puts a hitter on their heels and everything plays up. That’s a part we’re looking to push toward no matter what role I’m in, is making sure I come out punching first.”
Soroka’s four-seam fastball average was 94.3 mph, an increase over his season average of 92.5 mph.
Grifol saw a difference in Soroka.
“His velocity was up, he carried it through and pounded the strike zone,” Grifol said. “He ended up with four walks, but he was throwing the ball over the plate.
“He did a really good job. He was aggressive, which I like. That’s a big part of his game.”
Unfortunately for the Sox, strikeouts were also a theme for the team’s offense.
The Sox didn’t have much success — aside from Tommy Pham — against Yankees starter Luis Gil. The right-hander struck out 14 — a Yankees rookie record for a game — while allowing one run and five hits in six innings.
“When I look at starting pitchers, I look at their ability to adapt,” Grifol said. “Adaptability is the most important thing for me. That first inning he threw a lot of offspeed stuff.
“He’s got a good fastball and after that he started using his fastball and kept us off balance. He was running (the fastball) in there and just made everything better.”
Pham had two of those hits — giving him five for the series — and scored once. That run came in the first. The Sox had a chance for a bigger inning, but Gil battled back from being behind in the count 2-0 to strike out Korey Lee to end a threat with the bases loaded.
Gil had a stretch of seven consecutive strikeouts, which started in the fourth and ended when Eloy Jiménez singled with one out in the sixth.
“You’ve got to capitalize on that (first inning) and (if) we put a crooked number on the board there, you never know what happens,” Grifol said. “He got out of the inning with a strikeout on the fastball. It was a good pitch to Lee and after that he just got in a nice groove.”
The Sox struck out a season-high 16 times. They’ll look to avoid a three-game sweep Sunday, facing former Sox pitcher Carlos Rodón.
“We’ve just got to do a better job of putting the ball in play and making them make plays,” Grifol said.
