Smoke, No Mirrors
Gordon Beckham went 3 for 4 with a homerun. Yes, that’s what I said, “Gordon Beckham went 3 for 4 with a homerun.” The White Sox moved themselves into a virtual three-way tie for first place Tuesday night with a victory over the Indians. Chris Sale waited out a rain delayed for his chance to continue the starting staff’s trend of quality starts by going 6 innings and allowing just one run.
Indians: 2
White Sox: 7
The night wasn’t full of offense, despite the 7 spot thrown on the board, but A.J. contributed early by hitting a homerun to erase a deficit established in the top half of the 2nd with the help of a Sale fielding error. And then Gordon Beckham took over. Again: And then Gordon Beckham took over. Gordo lead off the 3rd inning in his first at-bat and launched a HR to left field, his first of the year. With the field hazy from the smoke of celebratory fireworks De Aza followed up with an infield pop that couldn’t be fielded through the smoke to turn into a double. If you were really in the mood to argue you could say that Beckham hit a HR and a double back-to-back, a pretty impressive feat to start off a crooked number inning for the Sox. It was more than they would need in the eventual lopsided win.
Hector Santiago would unofficially lock it down in the 9th, loading the bases by walking a pair and allowing a hit but striking out 2. I’m not sure if his entry outside of a save situation indicates that he’s no longer Ventura’s closer or if Robin thinks a 9th inning is a 9th inning, but Hector was in the game when victory was made official, and that’s good enough for me.
Plus: Gordon Beckham had 3 hits. Yes, Gordon Beckham had 3 hits. There’s nobody I want to see turn it around more than Gordon Beckham but I just can’t stop repeating myself in astonishment at his quality night. One more performance like that and he’s above the Mendoza. Relativity is such a wonderful thing.
Minus: A rather ugly pick-off attempt, which would have been successful had it not been for a shoddy rundown ended up with Michael Brantley reaching 2nd base on what would be officially deemed a throwing error. There’s nothing worse than a plus play being turned into a minus.
Tipping Point:
Gordo’s HR edged out AJ’s by a bit, worth a 12.2% shift in win expectancy.
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