Who played well and who did not for the Chicago White Sox in the Atlanta Braves series

Paul DeJong

He was brought in this offseason to replace Tim Anderson at shortstop. He has never hit for average like Anderson or played with swagger. He will make the routine play on defense and smack a home run now and again. Defense and home runs are his calling card.

He showed off some of that power when he broke a 1-1 tie with a solo blast to left field in the bottom of the seventh.

DeJong did go 0-for-3 in the first game, but he is going to have games like that. All you can expect out of him is to hit dingers consistently and field the ball well.

Michael Kopech

Kopech seems to be rejuvenated coming out of the bullpen. His fastball was routinely hitting 100 mph when he came into Tuesday's game to get the save.

He also threw 39 pitches, and it was routinely his fastball. He did give up a solo home run in the ninth to Ozuna which made things a bit uncomfortable. Kopech also allowed another hit and walked two.

Now Kopech being in the pen means he can almost be a one-trick pony. Liam Hendriks and Bobby Jenks became beloved closers because they threw gas. A closer also needs at least one secondary pitch to keep hitters honest. Also, it would be nice if Kopech had better command of his fastball.

The good thing is we are seeing the 2021 version of Kopech on the mound when he was deployed as a multi-inning shutdown reliever. He came into a sticky situation in the eighth and kept the Braves off the scoreboard. The hope is he just keeps hitters off the bases and does not need to throw as many pitches going forward.

Yoan Moncada

He went 3-for-6 along with two walks in this series. He also made an amazing defensive play to start a double play that helped Kopech get out of the eighth inning.

It was nice to see Moncada bounce back from a 2-for-13 opening series against Detroit.

The White Sox' pitching was bad on Monday.

Chris Flexen

He started the rainy series opener on Monday and only lasted four-and-a-one-third innings. He allowed four runs on six hits and walked three. The umpires had to investigate his pants for possible pine tar being hidden.

He could have had all the sticky stuff he wanted hidden in his hat, and it would not have mattered as he struggled with command all game.

Bryan Shaw

He relieved Flexen and got roughed up in his first appearance of the season. The veteran reliever allowed two runs on three hits and walked one in one-and-two-thirds innings.

Deivi Garcia

He had a strong spring training, but he is having trouble keeping runs off the board in his few outings. He was charged with two runs in just two-thirds innings of work.

Dominic Leone

The Sox were down 6-0 before a rain delay interrupted play in the late innings. The game should have been called then, but the Sox must have wanted to sell some more hot dogs or t-shirts.

After the rain went from a downpour to a drizzle, play resumed and Leone came in after Garcia allowed two runners in the eighth.

That is when served up a home-run ball to Austin Riley who smashed it to right field.

Even the baseball gods did not want to see much more of that game as it started to pour after the end of the eighth inning. The game was called with the Braves only needing those eight innings to crush the White Sox.