The Chicago White Sox were about to win a big series against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night. They had the win in the bag as the 27th out was in the air. Adam Engel tracked it down in foul territory but didn’t make the catch.
Engel is someone that has become known for robbing home runs in the outfield. In terms of pure defense, he is probably the best outfielder that the White Sox has. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make that one play.
The batter was Kyle Stowers who is just getting his feet wet in Major League Baseball. He hadn’t ever hit a home run in his career. He was given a second chance by Adam Engel’s misplay and he did not miss.
Instead of being the final out of the game, he took an 0-2 pitch out of the park to tie the game at one. For Orioles fans, it was one of the most electric moments of their entire season. For White Sox fans, it was the 2022 season’s bad luck in a nutshell.
For Stowers, it was a very good time for your first career home run. It came off a closer who was in the All-Star Game and had 19 straight saves to get your team tied up on the final strike. You can’t write a better script.
Thursday night’s Chicago White Sox game was one of the worst you’ll ever see.
The problem for the White Sox is that it should have never happened. From there, it felt like they had no chance to win and that proved to be true. The Orioles walked it off later in extra innings to give them the series win.
It is becoming obvious that 2022 just isn’t the White Sox year. They can’t hit with runners in scoring position to save their lives and that hinders their chance to win in each and every game. The pitching is usually good enough but the offense doesn’t help them out at all.
They are also at a disadvantage because Tony La Russa is the worst manager in Major League Baseball. Luis Robert couldn’t even swing the bat with two hands because his wrist was clearly bothering him.
He deserves credit for giving it his all for the team through pain but a pitcher would have put up a more competitive at-bat. He should not have been in there late in the game with it on the line. Tony La Russa and the training staff were the only ones who couldn’t see it.
The White Sox keep getting lucky enough for these losses not to hurt them that much. Both the Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins lost the game.
They could have woken up today in second place instead of third but they squandered the opportunity. However, they didn’t lose ground in the division either. Hopefully, there is better luck this weekend against the Arizona Diamondbacks.