NEW YORK — Avisail Garcia had seen so many sliders from Luis Severino in their previous encounter the White Sox outfielder looked for it exclusively in a hitter's count the next time up.
When Severino acquiesced and left his 2-0 slider in the zone, Garcia pounced on it. The outfielder's three-run home run to left in the seventh inning made all the difference as the White Sox snapped the New York Yankees' winning streak at eight with a 4-1 victory in front of 30,075 at Yankee Stadium. The blast made a winner of Miguel Gonzalez, who dominated into the ninth inning and combined on a four-hitter with David Robertson. Leury Garcia also homered for the White Sox, who clinched a winning road trip.
"I haven't seen (Garcia) like this," infielder Tyler Saladino said. "This is pretty impressive. Really impressive. Every single at-bat he's had a really good at-bat. Without talking to him or asking him what he's doing, because you let him keep going, it just seems like he's seeing the ball really well and he's on what they're throwing."
"I'm sure he's seeing the ball really well, but also locked in on what they're trying to do to him and taking advantage."
So far Garcia has made the most of what could be his last chance with the White Sox. He entered Tuesday with an American League-leading .447 average while also leading the AL in hits (21), OPS (1.128) and batting average on balls in play (.543).
Among the tear has been several big moments, including Sunday's go-ahead homer that clinched a 10-inning victory over Minnesota.
Garcia added another one to the highlight reel with the White Sox leading 1-0 against Severino, who to that point had been extremely sharp. Tim Anderson singled to start the seventh — only the second White Sox hit of the night. Yankees shortstop Pete Kozma then committed an error on Melky Cabrera's potential double play ball.
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After Jose Abreu popped out bunting on his own, Garcia took two fastballs and got ahead 2-0 in the count. He suspected Severino might throw next him a slider after their fifth-inning showdown. In that at-bat, Severino threw five sliders among eight pitches.
What he found was a fat pitch high and inside and Garcia turned on it, driving it an estimated 429 feet to put the White Sox ahead by four runs.
"He throws really, really, really hard," Garcia said. "He throws everything for a strike so you've got to be careful and don't try and do too much with that guy. My second at-bat he threw me a lot of sliders. My third at-bat he threw a couple of fastballs and I was looking for what he threw me a lot.
"Was looking for the slider he threw me and I put a good swing on it."
Garcia's homer was his third, which ties him with Matt Davidson for the team lead. Garcia also leads the White Sox with 13 runs driven in.
"He's been good for a while now, but I think he's still just trying to make good contact," manager Rick Renteria said. "Now he seems to be driving the ball a little bit more, which is good to see. But he's a strong young man that if he puts the bat on the ball and he does it well, he's got a chance to drive the ball."
Gonzalez was sharp with four pitches and New York took an aggressive approach. That led to a number of quick outs, a bunch of weak contact and few Yankees hits. Gonzalez retired the first 12 hitters he faced. Starlin Castro was the first to reach against Gonzalez on an infield single but was immediately erased on a double play. Gonzalez needed only three pitches to get through the seventh and headed into the ninth having thrown 72.
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The Yankees got another infield single — their fourth off Gonzalez — as Chase Headley opened the ninth with a pinch-hit. Gonzalez, who allowed a run and four hits in 8 1/3 innings, was removed after four-pitch walk off Brett Gardner with one out. Robertson took over and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam to preserve the win for Gonzalez.
Afterward, Gonzalez was far more eager to talk about Garcia than his own success — the win was the right-hander's first on the road since July 5, 2015 at the White Sox.
"We understand last year (Garcia) was struggling a little bit," Gonzalez said. "This year he is just trying to stay inside the ball. He has power. He doesn't have to try to hit the ball out every time. He's been doing a really good job staying inside the ball and taking it the other way. Today that slider he hit was up, and his approach is definitely showing."