The Chicago White Sox defeated the San Francisco Giants on Friday night. It was a late-night game locally but the faithful in California were treated to a nice pitchers duel. Both offenses were rather quiet. Not only did they go into the ninth inning at 0-0, nobody had even reached third base yet.
Lance Lynn had his best start of the season since returning from injury. He went 6.0 innings and gave up no runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out five. Joe Kelly and Tanner Banks came in for the seventh and eighth to preserve the 0-0 tie.
In the top of the ninth inning, the San Francisco Giants started throwing the ball all over the field after having a very sound defensive effort for the first eight innings. Leury Garcia, who has been one of the worst offensive players in the league this season, came up to bat.
With two outs, Giants’ flamethrowing reliever Camilo Doval had Leury with two strikes before serving up a pitch that he was able to drive into the outfield. Adam Haseley (who pinch ran for Gavin Sheets) came around to score and give the White Sox a 1-0 lead.
Kendall Graveman came up in the ninth and found a way to get three outs and the White Sox won. Leury Garcia was the hero. It seemed like they were destined for extra innings (or a Giants walk-off) but the unlikeliest hero came through for them.
The Chicago White Sox earned a big win over the San Francisco Giants.
Garcia has had a tough season. Tony La Russa takes a lot of well-deserved heat for playing him too much. He hasn’t had a good season and Tony can’t stop playing him. The win made their record 17-30 when Garcia is in the starting lineup.
The thing is, none of this is Leury’s fault. He would have much better statistics and a better reputation if he was used properly. That is why it was so nice to see him come through for his team on Friday night. He, and everyone on the team, deserved that win.
This was a much-needed win for the Sox as they really need to take this series. The Minnesota Twins are coming to town on Monday so getting these interleague wins is important for obvious reasons. On Saturday, Dylan Cease will face Logan Webb in what should be another great pitcher’s duel.