White Sox earn a split with Orioles in 7-1 Win
128. Final. 1. 11. 7
Our division, and league leading White Sox pulled off a split against a very hot Baltimore Orioles squad today. Chris Sale pitched another gem and the offense played a big part, with a fifth inning beating of Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez.
The Sox got off to a 1-0 lead in the top of the 4th inning on one swing of the bat by Brett Lawrie. It was starting to look like one of those games where Sale has to keep the other team completely shut out, which he completed anyways, but Lawrie, who was a triple shy of the cycle today, was able to get us on the board.
The 5th inning was a huge one for the Sox as they scored 5 runs to make it a 6-0 game. A Carlos Sanchez RBI ground-out made it 2-0 as Dioner Navarro scored.
Then a Jose Abreu (batting .360 since April 25th) single scored Austin Jackson. The hitting machine of Melky Cabrera joined the hit parade with a single that scored Sanchez, and almost Abreu who was called out on a close play at home. Jerry Sands also joined the fun with a 2 RBI single that scored Todd Frazier and MelkyCabrera.
The 6th inning would see the O’s finally get one in as Nolan Reimold singled in Chris Davis. A mixture of Sale and Jake Petricka would end that threat as the Sox hold on to the 6-1 lead after six innings.
The top of the ninth inning would see Navarro drive in his 8th run, scoring Cabrera on a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded. The threat would be cooled off as the Sox take it to 7-1, once again kind of burning the chance for a big inning. David Robertson came in and does what he does, and threw a quick bottom of the ninth to finish off the Orioles.
The Orioles started off hot in this series and really took it to us, the fact that the offense bailed out Mat Latos yesterday, and Sale was on the mound today saved us from being swept for the first time this season. But a win is a win, and I will take a split over being swept any day, I am just glad that we have Sale on this team to bail us out of those things sometimes. The offense coming alive is certainly a plus, even with Sale on the bump. This is an offense that left 12 runners in scoring position today, so just think about how big this win would have been if they had capitalized on all of those bases loaded opportunities today, which was many.
ON DECK: Tuesday Jose Quintana will take the mound against Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright. The Red Sox are again one of the hottest teams in our league, so coming home from a successful road trip, and beating them will go a long way in solidifying our ball club. As usual, you can watch on CSN or listen on WLS-890 AM.