The White Sox won their first game against Detroit this season, as Carlos Rodón outdueled Jordan Zimmermann until the calvary arrived in the form of a five-run seventh. "Explosion" would be an oversell, because they more just kept the flow of baserunners steady, much to the consternation of an increasingly irritable Detroit team.
Ryan Cordell --- having another good game -- started the decisive rally with a walk, then stole second. He moved to third on Yolmer Sánchez's single. Adam Engel did nothing except avoid interfering with Detroit catcher Grayson Greiner on Sánchez's stolen base. With the infield in, Leury García squeaked a grounder through the right side to score two.
In came Daniel Stumpf, who pitched like his name sounds. Yoan Moncada shot a single through the left side, Jose Abreu finally made strong contact on a two-run double, and then he rumbled through Nick Capra's stop sign to score easily when Yonder Alonso's one-hopper eluded Jeimer Candelario's grasp on the left side.
Eloy Jiménez -- having a pretty bad game -- grounded into a double play, but the damage was done.
Rodón was already in line for the win, but with a sudden six-run lead, Joe McEwing could end his evening after six innings and 95 pitches. He didn't find himself in too many jams despite three walks, due in large part to six strikeouts.
Picking on Gordon Beckham helped. Rodón induced an inning-ending double play from Beckham in the second inning, then got him to swing over a backfoot slider with two on and two outs in the fourth, which was the most sustained Detroit threat of Rodón's six innings. The only damage was a Josh Harrison solo shot in the third.
Rodón never trailed, starting with a massive Moncada blast to the shrubbery behind Comerica Park's center field. It looked an awful lot like this:
The Sox then regained the lead in the fifth. Cordell singled with one out, Sánchez walked, and Engel loaded the bases on a single through the left side. After García struck out on three pitches, Moncada worked a five-pitch walk to put the Sox ahead. Ron Gardenhire got tossed for arguing balls and strikes, even though home plate umpire Todd Tichenor might've been more generous than anything. According to Statcast, Moncada should've walked on four pitches.
Abreu then popped out to end the inning, but at least the double gives him something to hang his hat on as he tries to get back on track.
Bullet points:
*Cordell went 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored, and he made an athletic leaping catch on the warning track in right. It wasn't the smoothest route, but it was cold and windy out there.
*Sánchez teamed up with Cordell to give the top of the order runners to work with. He singled and walked three times, along with the stolen base.
*Jiménez, conversely, went 0-for-5 with a strikeout and a double play, and he also failed to successfuly track a pair of fly balls in the ninth inning that made Alex Colomé's job harder than it had to be. One dropped in front of him by the foul line, and he mistimed his leap on the warning track on the other. A 4-6 double play on a line drive into the shift erased the first "double."
*García played shortstop as Tim Anderson served his one-game suspension. Likewise, McEwing managed this one because Renteria was also serving time.
Record: 8-11 | Box score | Highlights
