The Chicago White Sox played a very tough game against the Texas Rangers on Friday night. They found out ahead of the game that Lance Lynn is going to join the rotation on Tuesday but they needed one more start from someone outside of the rotation to get them through.
They decided to use Reynaldo Lopez as an “opener”. He went 2.0 innings and didn’t give up a single run on one hit. Three of his six outs went as strikeouts. His stuff was on point. Originally, they wanted Davis Martin to start the game but they used Lopez as an opener for him and it paid off.
Martin followed that up with 5.0 innings of very good stuff. He gave up two solo shots but that would be it on the scoreboard. He only gave up one additional hit and a walk. he had six strikeouts and was absolutely good enough in this role.
With a 3-2 lead, Kendall Graveman had a very tough matchup with Corey Seager at the plate. Seager took Graveman deep for a solo shot that tied the game in the top of the eighth inning. It felt like the White Sox were going to waste this very well-played game.
The Chicago White Sox dominated in the bottom of the 8th inning against Texas.
Luckily, the bottom of the same frame was even better for the home team. They put up five runs in the inning thanks to some late-game heroics from Jake Burger, Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Josh Harrison, and Danny Mendick.
The White Sox ended up winning 8-3 as Liam Hendriks came in the 9th inning and shut them down. It was a very well-played game for the White Sox despite it being too close for comfort before entering the 9th.
It was great to see all of the different contributors in that inning but there were two that stuck out as extra important. Yoan Moncada and Yasmani Grandal have both had a rough go of it to begin their seasons. This team really needs to see them produce and they just haven’t been.
However, in this game, they figured out a way to get it done. They had back-to-back hits and that allowed the White Sox to keep the runs coming. It was more proof that this White Sox team needs these guys producing in order to win a lot.
We know they are great players but they just have to start seeing the ball much better. Hopefully, this sparks something for the two of them. The offense has been much better lately which is good news based on how the pitching has done so far this season. There is a long way to go for this White Sox team but this was a quality win.