Jazz Chisholm Jr. exits early after shot from foul ball in Yankees' 5-1 loss to White Sox

NEW YORK — Jazz Chisholm Jr. reminded young ballplayers that it’s important to wear a cup on Thursday, as the second baseman had to exit the Yankees‘ game against the White Sox after a self-inflicted shot to his nether region.

Chisholm was removed from the series finale, a 5-1 loss for the Yankees, in the fourth inning after fouling off a knuckle-curve from Chicago‘s Sean Burke. While the Yankees had yet to officially explain the departure at the time of publication, the foul ball appeared to connect with Chisholm’s family jewels.

His agonizing response — Chisholm spent several minutes on the ground in pain while being tended to by a trainer — only seemed to confirm that.

With Chisholm gone, Anthony Volpe pinch hit mid at-bat and worked a walk after drawing two balls. Volpe remained in the game at shortstop, while José Caballero moved to second base.

Chisholm hasn’t had the best luck with foul balls lately. While he had managed to avoid his cojones until Thursday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone mentioned over the weekend that Chisholm was a little beat up after previously fouling a ball off of his foot. That played a part in Chisholm being out of the starting lineup Sunday in Toronto.

While Chisholm’s season got off to a poor start, his bat has come alive in recent weeks. He’s batting .228 with a .720 OPS after going 0 for 1 on Thursday, but he had hit .271 with six homers, 16 RBIs and a .903 OPS over his last 26 games coming into the night.

With Chisholm lost halfway through Thursday’s game, the Yankees’ red-hot lineup cooled off. Ryan McMahon provided the team’s only run with a third-inning homer, while Camilo Doval, who has been dreadful against lefties, served up a first-pitch grand slam to former Yankee Andrew Benintendi in the eighth inning.

Yankees starter Ryan Weathers also allowed a solo homer to Colson Montgomery in the second frame, but that was the only run the lefty permitted over 6 1/3 innings of work. Weathers struck out eight and walked one while holding the White Sox to three hits.