NEW YORK -- As Joe Girardi said Sunday morning, four wins in six games is a good homestand.
Not great, considering the New York Yankees' opponents this past week were the Houston Astros and the Chicago White Sox. But good, especially when it ended with a Sunday afternoon win in a game in which the Yankees faced tough left-hander Chris Sale.
Even better when it ended with a walk-off win to send the fans home happy.
The Yankees' schedule gets tougher now, with 22 of their next 31 games against teams that currently have winning records. But the schedule was supposed to get tougher starting Sunday against Sale.
As it was, the Yankees didn't score an earned run off the White Sox left-hander, but they had him beaten until David Robertson allowed a game-tying home run in the ninth inning. The Yankees eventually won it in the 10th on Brian McCann's three-run homer.
It wasn't easy and it wasn't all that pretty, but it was a fourth straight win for a team that needs every victory it can get.
After all, if the Yankees had lost Sunday, they would have ended 3-3 on a homestand against two of baseball's worst teams.
And that would not have been good.
Looking left: Because Sale is so tough on left-handed hitters, Girardi started every available right-handed and switch hitter. He had to start one lefty, and chose Ichiro Suzuki.
Good choice. His leadoff single in the third inning was the Yankees' second hit of the day, outdoing their total in six innings against Sale in Chicago in May. And his two-run single in the sixth gave the Yankees the lead.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, it was the first run batted in by a left-handed hitter against Sale in more than a year -- since Joe Mauer had a two-run double against him on Aug. 17, 2013.
Hurt by the homer, Part I: Robertson was charged with his first blown save since June 1 when Avisail Garcia led off the ninth with a game-tying home run. Robertson was pitching for a third straight day for the second time this month, but just the second time since 2012.
Robertson had converted 22 consecutive save opportunities, the second-longest streak in the major leagues this season. But he also gave up a big homer to Houston's Chris Carter to lose a game Tuesday after coming in with the game tied.
Hurt by the homer, Part II: Chris Capuano had allowed just one home run in his first 30 1/3 innings with the Yankees, and none in 20 1/3 innings this season at Yankee Stadium. But White Sox leadoff hitter Alexei Ramirez sent Capuano's second pitch of the day just over the left-field fence to give Chicago a quick lead. And Conor Gillaspie lined Capuano's 91st pitch of the day into the right-field seats to make it 3-0 in the sixth.
Hurting themselves: The mistake-prone White Sox looked the part again Sunday. Carlos Sanchez ran them out of an inning by taking too big a turn at second base in the top of the third, and Sanchez's poor throw kept an inning going and forced Sale to throw extra pitches in the bottom of the third.
Dayan Viciedo also had a tough day in left field, playing Chase Headley's second-inning hit from a single into a double and flat-out dropping Martin Prado's one-out fly ball in the sixth, leading to four unearned runs.
It wasn't out of the ordinary for Viciedo, who is a truly bad outfielder. Mark Simon of ESPN Stats & Information reports that Viciedo owns a minus-15 defensive runs saved this season. Only Matt Kemp (minus-26), Torii Hunter (minus-17) and Ben Revere (minus-16) ranked worse among major league outfielders.
Ellsbury's OK: When Girardi left Jacoby Ellsbury out of Sunday's lineup, he attributed it to Ellsbury being "pretty beat up." But when the Yankees took a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning, Girardi decided that Ellsbury was healthy enough to play the last two innings in center field.
Of course, Sunday was a good day to give Ellsbury even a partial day off. The only time he had faced Sale, he struck out in all three at-bats.
What's next: The Yankees make a quick stop in Kansas City to make up a game that was rained out on June 9. Michael Pineda (2-2, 2.05) makes his third start since coming off the disabled list. Right-hander James Shields (12-6, 3.28) starts for the Royals, with first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. ET. Shields will make his 30th career start against the Yankees, tying John Lackey for the most by any active pitcher (he's 9-15 with a 4.23 ERA). The Yankees then head to Detroit for a three-game series that begins Tuesday night.