Perhaps White Sox relievers should consider not striking out Mike Trout.
On Saturday, Evan Marshall started the eighth inning by fanning the Angels’ center fielder, only to give up a single, a triple and a homer to lose the game.
Tonight, Matt Foster inherited José Ruiz’s runner on first with Trout at the plate, and also came away with the strikeout. But then he walked Anthony Rendon and fell behind 3-1 to Jared Walsh. He threw a fastball up and away, and Walsh took it that direction for a walk-off three-run homer.
It was Walsh’s second homer on a fastball count against a White Sox reliever, as he greeted Codi Heuer with a solo shot after Dylan Cease left the game. That gave the Angels their second lead of the game after losing their first lead in hilarious fashion.
The White Sox scored their three runs in the fifth inning without the benefit of a hit. Or even a batted ball. They did benefit from Joe Maddon leaving Ohtani to try to complete the fifth despite diminishing control and more visible exertion in getting to 100 mph. Nick Madrigal reached with a one-out single, but he was replaced by Leury García on a fielder’s choice.
Ohtani only had to get one more out to qualify for the win, but he couldn’t get it. He walked Adam Eaton, then walked José Abreu to load the bases. In his third consecutive lengthy battle with Yoán Moncada, he threw a wild pitch that allowed García to score, and the other runners to move up.
Ohtani rallied to strike out Moncada on a full-count slider down and in, but Max Stassi didn’t catch it, and it dribbled toward the screen. Moncada took off for first after a brief hesitation. Stassi’s throw beat Moncada to the bag, but it bounced past first baseman Jared Walsh, and Eaton scored on the play. Abreu kept running throughout, beating David Fletcher’s high throw home. He slid under a leaping Ohtani and crashed into the pitcher’s ankle at home. The Angels lost the lead, and they almost lost Ohtani, who limped off the field but was declared fine. Maddon probably would’ve taken him out anyway because he was gassed.
The White Sox scored their next tying run under similarly hilarious circumstances in the ninth. Raisel Iglesias plunked Madrigal to start the inning, nearly flung the ball into foul territory on the right side fielding García’s sacrifice bunt, then actually flung the ball into foul territory on the left side after he fielded an Eaton comebacker and had Madrigal hung up between second and third. Madrigal scored the tying run and Eaton took second. Eaton couldn’t get home, because Abreu struck out, Moncada walked, and Yermín Mercedes popped out.
Alas, the White Sox never took the lead because they managed only five hits, and none with men on. They went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, and 0-for-19 with runners on base period. They occasionally made hard contact into well-aligned defenders, but other at-bats were lousy. Abreu twice had the go-ahead run in scoring position, including a runner on third with one out in the seventh. Over those last two at-bats, he swung and missed at six pitches below his knees.
Bullet points:
*Dylan Cease had a traditionally ugly first inning with traditionally ugly control problems, but settled down enough to get one out short of five. His line looks fits in with his career log: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
*Tonight marked the fifth time in White Sox history that they scored at least four runs without an RBI. The last was a 6-4 loss to Seattle on Aug. 7, 1995. The one before that was the Andy Hawkins no-hitter.
Record: 1-3 | Box score | Statcast
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April 05, 2021 at 02:01PM
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Angels 7, White Sox 4: Walk-off homer extends ugly start - Sox Machine
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