Jimenez homers to back Crochet as White Sox beat Cardinals 5-1

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Eloy Jimenez homered and Garrett Crochet tossed six effective innings to help the Chicago White Sox to a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

Chicago had lost 14 of its first 16 road games this season, Paul DeJong added a run-scoring double for the White Sox, who won their first road series of the season. He spent seven seasons in St. Louis from 2017-2023.

Willson Contreras homered for St. Louis, which has lost four of five.

Jimenez hit his fourth of the season off reliever Giovanny Gallegos (2-1) to snap a 1-1 tie leading off the seventh inning. The drive kick-started a four-run outburst.

“We’ve had a tough start at the beginning, but right now we’ve been playing better baseball,” Jimenez said. “Now, we’re showing what we can do.”

Crochet (2-4) allowed one run on three hits. He had given up 16 earned runs in 16 2/3 innings over his previous four starts. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.

“My slider shape was back,” Crochet said. “Today, I was able to compete in the zone with my heater. I was getting it away, getting it up and in. That helped them, not sit on one pitch.”

Crotchet got hit on the ankle by a line drive off the bat on Lars Nootbaar in the third inning. He shook it off and after a couple warmup tosses, he was good to go.

“His performance today was gutty,” Chicago manager Pedro Grifol said. “He got smoked on that line drive. For him to stay in, and do what he did and finish off the way he finished off, was tremendous,”

Crotchet, who missed the entire 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, has 53 strikeouts on the season and is the first Chicago pitcher to pass the 50-strikeout mark over his first eight starts.

“Let’s keep it rolling,” Crochet said.

Bryan Ramos recorded his first RBI with a sacrifice fly in the second in his first major league at-bat. He added a single in the big seventh inning.

DeJong, Robbie Grossman and Gavin Sheets had two hits each for the White Sox.

St. Louis fell to 5-14 in day games this season.

The Cardinals dropped to a season-low four games below .500 at 15-19.

“You’ve got to keep working,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “The bottom line. I know you don’t want to hear it, but that’s all we can do is continue to work.”

TRAINER’S ROOM:

Chicago: Placed INF Danny Mendick on the 10-day injury list due to lower back tightness. The move is retroactive to to Thursday.

St. Louis: OF Dylan Carlson made his first start of the year after suffering a shoulder strain late in spring training.

UP NEXT

White Sox: Have yet to announce a starter for the first of a three game series Monday night in Tampa.

Cardinals: RHP Kyle Gibson (2-2, 3.79) will face New York Mets LHP Sean Manaea (1-1, 3.07) in the first of a three-game series in St. Louis. Gibson struck out a season-high nine over seven innings in a 2-1 win over Detroit on Tuesday.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Giovanny Gallegos sits in the dugout after being removed from the mound during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

Chicago White Sox's Eloy Jiménez gestures skyward as he crosses home plate after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Giovanny Gallegos (65) watches as Chicago White Sox's Eloy Jiménez runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet, right, stretches his calf after being hit by a ball off the bat of St. Louis Cardinals' Lars Nootbaar during the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 5, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

Chicago White Sox center fielder Tommy Pham catches a fly ball hit by St. Louis Cardinals' Lars Nootbaar during the sixth inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 5, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

St. Louis Cardinals' Willson Contreras runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

Chicago White Sox's Paul DeJong hits a ground rule double during the second inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, May 5, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Scott Kane)

NEW YORK (AP) — Juan Soto stopped his slump with flair, joining Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge to make the New York Yankees the first team this season with a trio of double-digit home run hitters.

“It tells how much damage we can do,” Soto said after his first multihomer game for New York powered the Yankees over the Chicago White Sox 6-1 on Saturday for their first six-game winning streak since September 2022.

A day after his batting average briefly dipped below .300, Soto went 4 for 4 with a walk. He is hitting .317 with 11 homers, 37 RBIs and a .975 OPS, recovering from a 3-for-25 slide during a six-game road trip.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone noticed a change with some hard-hit balls in Friday night's series opener.

“I could just see his body language,” Boone said. “Just really locked in today, all the way 'til the end there. So just one of those days that Juan's capable of.”

Soto tied the score in the first inning with a 417-foot drive deep into the right-field bleachers off Brad Keller, had an RBI single in the second and hit another solo shot in the fifth with a 437-footer deeper into the right-field bleachers. It was the 18th multihomer game for Soto.

“There’s a consistency of what he does and a confidence to what he’s doing,” Boone said. “He has a real good understanding of himself and hitting and knows the things that he wants to work on.”

Stanton and Jose Trevino also homered for the Yankees, who emerged from the game leading the major leagues with 66 long balls. Aaron Judge has 12 homers, recovering from a slow start, and Stanton has 11.

Their offense has propelled New York to 12 wins in 14 games. The Yankees boosted their record to an AL-best 32-15 despite ace Gerrit Cole missing at least the first two months of the season with an elbow injury.

New York's pitchers lead the major leagues with a 2.83 ERA. Rookie Luis Gil struck out a career-high 14 over six innings against the White Sox, winning his fourth straight start and fifth consecutive decision.

“With those three guys hitting the ball well, swinging the bat well, and having those starters doing what they’ve been doing, I think it’s just more than enough to win games,” Soto said, referring to himself, Judge and Stanton.

A three-time All-Star acquired by the Yankees from San Diego in December, the 25-year-old already has become a fan favorite. New York owner Hal Steinbrenner said this week he was open to in-season negotiations on a long-term contract for Soto, who can become a free agent after the World Series.

“It’s been great this past month-and-a-half,” Soto said. “The fan base, teammates, everything has been going in a good way.”

Soto was on the field Friday for batting practice after conferring with coaches and watching video.

“Definitely working on my swing, try to find that feeling again where I was hitting the ball in the first month and getting that feeling back and just get that confidence back,” he said. “You got to try everything that you have to to help yourself. It’s not going to happen overnight.”

Soto had just a single putout in right field on an afternoon Gil and relievers struck out 16 batters. He's not an advocate of Crash Davis, the “Field of Dreams” catcher who told pitcher Nuke LaLoosh: "Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they’re fascist. Throw some ground balls — it’s more democratic."

"Hell no. You want to strike out all the guys, I’m more than happy to see that," Soto said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, left, celebrates with Aaron Judge after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto flips his bat after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. The Yankees won 6-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. The Yankees won 6-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. The Yankees won 6-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto, right, celebrates with third base coach Luis Rojas as he runs the bases after hitting a home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, New York Yankees' Juan Soto runs the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto hits a single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. The Yankees won 6-1. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto hits a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)