The Chicago White Sox needed to win in the worst way. They really didn’t want to go to play the San Diego Padres on a nine-game losing streak after blowing their chances at a division title last week. In order to get that win, they needed to put everything out on the line.
They did that on Thursday afternoon against the Minnesota Twins but it wasn’t easy. It was especially hard since they went down 2-0 after a tough inning on the mound from Lucas Giolito. From there, however, he locked in and gave four additional strong innings.
Giving up two runs over five innings was a great way for Giolito to hand the ball over to the bullpen with a chance to win. Thanks to some big games offensively from Jose Abreu, Josh Harrison, Andrew Vaughn, and Romy Gonzalez, they scored just enough to win 4-3.
One hitter that also gets a lot of credit for the win is Mark Payton. He is a 30-year-old trying to play a few games in Major League Baseball after never really making it for a full season.
The Chicago White Sox needed an effort like this and Mark Payton delivered.
He has played in 35 career games (with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox) now and this will always be his most memorable one. Payton had his first career RBI in the game which was really cool to see for him
Payton also gave his full effort on a big play in the 8th inning that ended up giving the White Sox the win. He ran out a pop fly that ended up being dropped. He got to second base because of his hustle and then eventually came around to score the game-winning run.
The White Sox have been a team with bad body language and effort over the last couple of weeks so seeing someone hustle that hard was refreshing. This guy ran like he was playing Cleveland Guardians baseball and we know what that gives you more often than not.
It was the perfect time for the White Sox to get that effort from Payton as they needed the win badly. Now, they head to southern California to play the San Diego Padres for the first time in a long time.
Davis Martin will get the start which should make it an incredible game as the Padres are playing for their playoff lives. Hopefully, they are motivated enough to try and play spoiler for them as they desperately need the wins.