One night after scoring 14 runs, the Chicago White Sox knew they would have to dig deep to have that kind of performance again. Unfortunately, it can be very hard to follow up on games like that where literally everything goes right for you. On most nights, baseball isn’t that easy.
The Oakland A’s humbled the White Sox offense early in their game on Friday night. Between Austin Pruitt and Joel Payamps, the A’s no-hit the White Sox through the first six innings of the game.
Chicago didn’t have its first hit until Eloy Jimenez got one through the Oakland defense for a base hit. They ended up with two hits in the seventh inning but didn’t get a run to show for it.
Meanwhile, Lucas Giolito had a very okay start where he allowed three runs on five hits. Most of the time, you’d be okay with that from a guy having a really tough year. The White Sox’s poor offense didn’t do them any favors though as he left trailing 3-0.
Luckily, the White Sox had a spark in the 9th innings. After getting the first hit of the game a few innings prior, Eloy Jimenez hit a solo shot to give the White Sox a run. Following that, a miracle happened.
The Chicago White Sox were clutch when it mattered most in the ninth inning.
Due to some clutch plate appearances by a few of the people batting after Eloy, the White Sox scored four more unanswered runs in the 9th inning to take a 5-3 lead.
It was capped off with a huge two-run go-ahead base hit by Elvis Andrus against the squad that cut him just a few weeks ago. This inning was just what the doctor ordered for this White Sox team on this night.
Liam Hendriks quickly warmed up after the White Sox took the lead and he earned a big save in the bottom of the ninth. It was Hendriks’ 32nd save of the season which is tied for first in the American League and tied for second in all of Major League Baseball.
The White Sox needed this win badly and it didn’t look like they were going to get it. It was nice to see them pull it out with two more games against this Oakland A’s team.
Lance Lynn will take the ball on Saturday looking to get the White Sox back in the win column while keeping his hot streak going. Getting a win here could do amazing things for this now second-place team.