On this Thursday, we should give some (a little bit) of credit to Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura with how the game turned out after 10 innings. Even though some moves were a bit risky, it worked, and the “Good Guys” held on for an 8-7, 10-inning win over the Detroit Tigers.
Pinch hitting J.B Shuck for Tyler Flowers in the 10th inning led to the White Sox loading the bases as Shuck hit a single.
That was a good move.
More from White Sox News
- The Chicago White Sox might have had a season ending loss
- The Chicago White Sox are expecting Tim Anderson back soon
- Miguel Cairo’s words spark life into the Chicago White Sox
- Dylan Cease should be the favorite for the AL Cy Young Award
- Ozzie Guillen speaks the whole truth about Tony La Russa
With Shuck keeping the inning alive with two outs, Carlos Sanchez, who has struggled at the plate lately, tripled in three runs with a line drive to right field, scoring Melky Cabrera, Avisail Garcia and Shuck for what was an 8-5 lead.
The White Sox (32-40) tried very hard to give the Tigers the game in the bottom of the 10th with Robertson allowing two runs to score, as the Tigers had a bases-loaded single by Bryan Holaday to score Andrew Romine and Anthony Gose.
Chicago loaded the bases again by intentionally walking Miguel Cabrera, but Robertson came through with the save by striking out Josh Wilson for the final out.
What was so great about this ball game was the fact the White Sox showed signs of life when the game was on the line, proof being the 10th inning when they took the lead in a 5-5 game with the aforementioned three runs, plus the bottom half by beating the adversity handed to them.
As for the rest of the game, the White Sox didn’t have their usual bad first inning, even though they trailed by a 2-1 score. In the second, Chicago added two runs for a 3-2 advantage.
Both teams scored two runs in the fifth inning, but in the eighth, the Tigers scored one run, tying the score at 5-5.
Even though the White Sox committed an error and were out-hit 16-10, they were still able to play clutch baseball and gain the win, which was a welcome sight to watch.
Then there was the pitching of starter Carlos Rodon for the away team, and it wasn’t his best start by far in his first meeting against the Tigers.
Rodon went just five innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits and three walks. He struck out seven, but allowed two home runs in the no-decision. The home runs came in the first and fifth innings. It was another day of learning on the fly for Rodon, which will eventually make him an even better pitcher than he currently is.
Speaking of home runs, Adam Eaton hit a home run in the first inning off Alfredo Simon to begin the game. Eaton finished 2-for-4 with two runs, one walk and one RBI. Sanchez also had two hits for Chicago, going 2-for-5 with the aforementioned three RBIs.
The winning pitcher was Zach Duke, who pitched one inning of relief, where he allowed one hit.
So looking at two of the past three games, the White Sox have played reasonable winning baseball, but then again, they don’t know how to keep winning on a consistent basis, leaving them still in last place in the AL Central.
Friday’s starters will be Jose Quintana (3-7, 3.92 ERA) vs. Anibal Sanchez (6-7, 4.59 ERA).
Next: White Sox lose rubber match to Twins