Doubleheader split puts Chicago White Sox 3½ games out of 1st in AL Central — but Eloy Jiménez exits with a leg injury

The sky cleared up enough for the Chicago White Sox to resume their series with the New York Yankees.

Instead of the haze the smoke from Canadian wildfires created, there were plenty of longballs during Game 1 of the doubleheader Thursday at Yankee Stadium.

The Sox hit four home runs on their way to their fifth straight win, beating the Yankees 6-5. The season-high winning streak came to an end with the Yankees taking the nightcap 3-0.

Gleyber Torres hit a two-run homer in the fourth and Billy McKinney had a solo homer the next inning against Sox starter Mike Clevinger, who allowed three runs on six hits with two strikeouts and a walk in 5⅔ innings.

The Sox had two hits, singles from Eloy Jiménez and Gavin Sheets. With the split, the Sox (28-36) are 3½ games out of first place in the American League Central. They are in third place in the division for the first time since April 17.

Trainers checked on Jiménez after he ran slowly while grounding into a fielder’s choice in the ninth. He exited the game with a lower left leg injury. He is day to day and will be evaluated Friday.

“Felt it right out of the box,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said.

Jiménez played a big role in the opener, putting the Sox ahead with a two-run homer off Michael King in the seventh.

“(I thought) ‘Just bring (Luis) Robert (Jr.) to home plate,’ ” Jiménez said after Game 1. “Thank God I did.”

Jake Burger, Robert and Yoán Moncada homered earlier for the Sox.

“Home runs were the name of the game,” Grifol said after Game 1.

The teams played two Thursday after Major League Baseball postponed Wednesday’s game because of what it called “clearly hazardous air quality.”

Burger lined a two-run homer to left field in the second inning, his second homer in three pitches stretching to Sunday’s game-ending grand slam against the Detroit Tigers.

The Yankees responded with two two-out runs in the second, getting an RBI double from Kyle Higashioka and an RBI single from Willie Calhoun to tie the game.

The Sox showed more power in the third. Robert began the inning with a long homer to center, his team-leading 14th. With one out, Moncada homered to right. It was the third baseman’s third homer of the season and first since April 2.

The Yankees got involved in the home run derby in the fourth as Calhoun followed a Higashioka single with a homer to tie the game at 4.

The Yankees took the lead for the first time in the fifth on a two-out RBI single from Oswaldo Cabrera.

Sox Game 1 starter Lance Lynn allowed five runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and three walks in five innings.

“It was frustrating because it could have been way better,” Lynn said. “You had some quick outs and you’re right where you want to be and the next thing you give up a couple runs with two (outs). It was just one of those things where once I thought I was in a rhythm, something happened.

“But all in all, stuff is all right, physically I feel good. It’s just about making pitches and getting out of innings without giving up runs.”

The offense picked him up, with Robert beginning the seventh with a double and Jiménez following with the homer to right-center.

“The offense was able to bail me out today,” Lynn said. “I gave up a lot of runs with two outs. I have to be better with two outs than I was today. It could have been a different ballgame for me but the offense came back and the bullpen did a hell of a job at the end.

“You’re going to have days like that where, for me as a starter I didn’t do my job but the offense and bullpen did their job and you can still win games. I didn’t have to be perfect. That’s how you go on a little run is when you win games that aren’t perfect and today was one of those games.”

Relivers Gregory Santos, Joe Kelly, Reynaldo López and Kendall Graveman each pitched scoreless innings. The first two batters reached in the ninth against Graveman. He got Torres to pop out to first baseman Andrew Vaughn and Anthony Rizzo to ground into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.

“Just never panics,” Grifol said of Graveman. “This guy comes in and pounds the strike zone, makes good pitches when he has to.”

The final play was reviewed, checking to see if shortstop Tim Anderson remained on second for the first portion of the double play, and upheld.

“Sometimes the angles they show on the board are not the angles these guys got at headquarters,” Grifol said. “There was another angle we felt really good about that the call was going to stand.”

Torres nearly homered in the ninth in Game 1, with the ball landing in the foul seats down the right field line.

He had the big hit in Game 2, while the Sox couldn’t put much together against Yankees starter Randy Vásquez (two hits in 5⅔ innings) and two relievers.

“Any time you come into Yankee Stadium and win 2 out of 3, obviously it’s really good,” Grifol said. “We had a chance to take all three. But they pitched well today and they got a couple of timely hits and we had our opportunity was the first inning and we didn’t get anything done in the first inning.

“Any time you win 2 out of 3, it’s a good series — after it’s done. We come in and win the first two, you want to win the third one, too.”

Yankees recognize Liam Hendriks

Before the game, the Yankees recognized Sox closer Liam Hendriks and his return from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, donating $10,000 to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in his honor. Hendriks announced he was matching the donation.

“I had no idea,” Hendriks said. “They said they were donating in my name and it was not what I expected but I’m extremely thankful. It shows the class of the organization that they would even think about doing something like that.

“There was no hesitation for me saying I’m going to match it. That’s who my wife and I are. Totally unexpected. I keep using the words extremely emotional but it was emotional and something I didn’t expect. It was something that goes a long way.”