White Sox Beat Yankees With Walk-Off Homer in Wild 'Field of Dreams' Game
With Major League Baseball playing a game in the state of Iowa for the first time ever in a celebration of 1989 sports drama Field of Dreams, it's only fitting that Thursday night's game between the White Sox and Yankees featured a Hollywood ending.
After blowing a three-run lead in the top of the ninth inning, the White Sox won thanks to a walk-off, two-run homer by Tim Anderson in the bottom of the ninth to seal a wild 9-8 win over the Yankees.
Chicago led, 7-4, in the top of the ninth inning when things began to unravel for All-Star closer Liam Hendriks. After allowing a leadoff single by Tyler Wade, he struck out DJ LeMahieu and Brett Gardner. He then gave up a home run to Aaron Judge—Judge's second of the game—and walked Joey Gallo before allowing a go-ahead blast by Giancarlo Stanton.
Zach Britton then came on to finish the comeback for the Yankees, and was on his way when he got Danny Mendick to ground out. He then walked Seby Zavala before serving up the home run to Anderson, who ambushed the first pitch he saw and hit it into the corn over the right field wall.
The game delivered everything fans and the league could have hoped for, with plenty of home runs and even more drama. The game featured a pre-game ceremony in which both teams—plus Kevin Costner—took the field through the corn rows. Costner then addressed the crowd for a pre-game speech before play began.
Commissioner Rob Manfred has already said the league will return to Iowa next year for another Field of Dreams game. Iowans will likely be thrilled to have big-league baseball return, but it will be nearly impossible to top the theatrics of Thursday's instant classic.
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