If you didn’t tune into watching the first two games of my all-time Yankees vs. all-time White Sox, then check it out here. I went up 2-0 after some great pitching performances and good enough hitting, led by Lou Gehrig and Andrew Velazquez. In Games 3 and 4, the formula was very similar, but with some new players adding significant production. The lineups changed a bit this time around. The White Sox needed a little bit of offensive help, so they called in some wringers.
During the off-days between Games 2 and 3, MLB the Show released a new, 98 overall Eloy Jiménez and he had to be in this lineup to neutralize the dominant force who started Game 3 for the Yanks, “Nasty” Nestor Cortes Jr. I also needed to make a change of my own after struggling with my favorite Yankee of all-time, Jorge Posada. Here were the lineups:
All-time New York Yankees
1. Mickey Mantle (CF, 99 overall)
2. Babe Ruth (RF, 99 overall)
3. Lou Gehrig (1B, 99 overall)
4. Giancarlo Stanton (LF, 98 overall)
5. Gary Sánchez (C, 95 overall)
6. Gleyber Torres (2B, 97 overall)
7. DJ LeMahieu (3B, 97 overall)
8. Andrew Velazquez (SS, 96 overall)
9. Nestor Cortés Jr. (P, 97 overall)
All-time Chicago White Sox
1. Tim Anderson (SS, 99 overall)
2. Yoán Moncada (2B, 99 overall)
3. Frank Thomas (1B, 99 overall)
4. Yasmani Grandal (C, 97 overall)
5. Eloy Jiménez (RF, 98 overall)
6. Luis Robert (CF, 98 overall)
7. Minnie Miñoso (3B, 99 overall)
8. Andrew Vaughn (LF, 98 overall)
9. Carlos Rodón (P, 97 overall)
I was a bit scared to use Nestor here, if I’m being honest. While he has pinpoint control and a decent pitch mix in the game, he was an awful matchup for a righty-heavy White Sox lineup with insane attributes against lefties. Despite that fear, he was extremely formidable in 4.2 IP, giving up only one earned run and striking out three. Even though he was chucking 90 mph, I was busting a mix of four-seams, cutters, and two-seams inside and mixing in the occasional back foot slider and dirt diving changeup. It worked as well as I could have hoped for.
On the other side, Rodón was lights out to start this game. He bamboozled Ruth and Gehrig, striking them out four times in six at-bats. It wasn’t until the fifth inning until he ran into a bit of trouble after Miñoso came up just short on a groundball to his left.
After this, Mantle scorched a triple into the gap scoring two and taking a 3-1 lead. Sometimes, this is just how the cookie crumbles. Nestor was followed up by 5.1 scoreless innings from the bullpen. Clay Holmes, Jonathan Loáisiga, Dellin Betances, and Mariano Rivera combined for one hit and three strikeouts.
This Gary Sánchez home run put the game out of reach with the way the pen looked. It also solidified his entry into the lineup:
Another victory with dominant pitching gave me the 3-0 lead, leaving Zach and the White Sox in risk of getting swept. Luckily for him, he had the best starting pitcher in the video game from both teams, Lance Lynn, coming to save the day. On my end, I struggled to find a Game 4 closeout starter but eventually settled for Orlando “El Duque” Hernández because his pitch mix in the game is close to optimal.
Once again, this decision panned out great as El Duque delivered five innings with ten punchouts! The mix of sinkers, changeups, and high-60s curveballs were lethal. Check out some of the best strikeouts of the game.
Lynn may have been the better pitcher overall, but he was not in this game. He was scorched from jump and was pulled after three frames. He only gave up five hits and three runs, but that’s because the plug was pulled before things got out of hand. Gleyber and the Mick were ready for these pitches like they were coming off a tee!
It didn’t matter who threw for the White Sox this time around, Liam Hendriks, Chris Sale, and Ryan Tepera all got lit up for at least two runs each in their appearances. The opposite happened for Holmes, Gossage, and Mo, who combined for four shutout, hitless innings. This one was a bit of a blowout. with a final score of 11-1 to close out the sweep of the series.
The offense was saving the explosion for the final game, especially Gleyber Torres, who scorched three home runs after his RBI double in the second. Here are all of them.
Gleyber definitely took the MVP of the series after this performance. He ended up going 8-for-15 in the series with four home runs. In the first three games while the offense was decent, he still delivered hit after hit. Wouldn’t it be nice to see him replicate that in 2022?
But that wraps up this mini-series of MLB the Show! It’s not at all a surprise to see this team dominate like it did. As we all know, the Yankees have had some of the best players ever, and that certainly comes through in video games too.
