Ali Sánchez hits his 1st career homer as the Yankees beat the White Sox 9-5

CHICAGO (AP) — Ali Sánchez hit a three-run shot for his first career homer and the New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox 9-5 on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series between playoff contenders.

Ben Rice hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning, and New York put away the game with four more runs in the eighth. Sánchez had the big blow, a two-out drive to left field on a 3-2 fastball from Sean Newcomb.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. had two hits, two RBIs and two steals for New York. Jasson Domínguez also had two hits and scored twice.

The Yankees (60-46) won for the sixth time in eight games and pulled within 2 1/2 games of idle Tampa Bay for the AL East lead.

Colson Montgomery had three hits for Chicago (55-50), which committed three errors in its third loss in four games. Noah Schultz allowed three runs in 3 1/3 innings for the AL Central leaders.

New York grabbed a 5-4 lead on Rice's two-out single off Bryan Hudson (3-4). Rice drove in Amed Rosario, who led off with a pinch-hit double and advanced when catcher Edgar Quero committed a throwing error on a pickoff attempt.

Brent Headrick (6-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win. David Bednar got one out for his 21st save, striking out Chase Meidroth with two on after shortstop Anthony Volpe dropped Montgomery's high popup, allowing Sam Antonacci to score on the error.

Chicago jumped in front with three runs in the first against Max Fried. Montgomery hit an RBI single and scored on Braden Montgomery's two-out triple.

Randal Grichuk sparked the fast start with a leadoff double to left. Max Schuemann had an opportunity to cut down Grichuk at second, but Chisholm wasn't able to catch his one-hop throw.

Chisholm then had the key hit in New York's four-run fourth, a tying two-run double off Chris Murphy. Chisholm alertly swiped third on Quero's throw to Murphy after a pitch and scored on Spencer Jones' grounder to second.

The White Sox rallied in the fifth. Miguel Vargas doubled and scored on Colson Montgomery's single off Tim Hill, tying it at 4.

Gerrit Cole (3-5, 3.92 ERA) starts for New York on Tuesday night, and left-hander Anthony Kay (7-4, 4.21) pitches for the White Sox.

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New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried looks on after giving up an RBI single hit by Chicago White Sox's Colson Montgomery during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago White Sox's Braden Montgomery watches his RBI triple during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees in Chicago, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami, right, celebrates with teammate Braden Montgomery (24) after scoring on a Chase Meidroth sacrifice fly during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees in Chicago, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

New York Yankees' Ali Sanchez celebrates after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

New York Yankees' Ali Sanchez celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a three-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mets slugger Juan Soto expects to play again this season, even after being placed on the injured list with a left calf strain.

“Yeah, 100%,” Soto said Monday when asked about returning this year.

The five-time All-Star landed on the 10-day injured list Saturday for the second time this season after imaging revealed a grade 2 strain. The injury is expected to sideline him longer than the 15 games he missed with a strained right calf in April, but there is no definitive timeline yet for his return to the last-place Mets.

“We’re just taking it week by week, day by day,” Soto said before the opener of a three-game series with Atlanta. “We’re trying to see how I feel. Definitely I’m young enough to recover quick. So we don’t know how I’m going to feel tomorrow, the next day.”

Mets interim manager Andy Green said the plan is to get the 27-year-old Soto completely healthy before discussing a timeline for his return.

“We think the timelines line up that there’s enough of a season left that it’s worthwhile to get one of your best players back on the field and go win baseball games,” Green said.

Soto had been nursing the nagging calf problem for about a week before he left Friday night's game against the Dodgers in discomfort. He walked twice against Los Angeles starter Roki Sasaki during a 4-2 loss at Citi Field before being replaced by pinch-hitter Jorge Polanco in the sixth inning with the score tied at 1.

Soto is hitting .283 with 21 homers, 52 RBIs and a .947 OPS in 84 games during his second season with the Mets. He sat out last Wednesday’s 4-3 loss at Milwaukee, but was back in the lineup Friday as the designated hitter after the Mets had a day off.

“We were expecting something because I was definitely going through a lot,” Soto said. “I was in a lot of pain, but I just kept pushing.”

The lone All-Star for the Mets this season, Soto left the team’s first game after the break in the eighth inning on July 16 at Philadelphia. New York was off the following day, and he returned to the lineup as the DH on Saturday and Sunday against the Phillies. He played left field last Monday in Milwaukee and was the DH on Tuesday.

“I’m trying to go out there and help my team to win ballgames, so whatever it takes,” Soto said. “Sometimes it’s tough. We were hoping that it goes the other way and I get better and healthier and I could keep going.”

The Mets (45-62) are 5-13 with Soto on the injured list this year after they tied a season high with 19 hits in Monday night's 14-3 win over Atlanta. Because of a left calf strain that sidelined star shortstop Francisco Lindor for two months, New York has had Soto and Lindor in the lineup together for only 28 games this season.

By the time Soto returns, the Mets' roster could look much different after an expected selloff before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

“We never expected to be in this kind of spot by now,” Soto said. “I always trusted that we had the talent to turn it around and to compete this year.”

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

New York Mets' Juan Soto hits an RBI single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sunday, July 19, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)