If you were incredibly selective, you could chalk up the Red Sox' seven-run eighth to bad luck.
After all, the Red Sox took the lead on a broken-bat Mitch Moreland single up the middle, and they made it 4-2 when Eduardo Nunez's two-out bases-loaded swinging bunt rolled all the way to third base. Those two balls go a foot in either direction and maybe the game gets to the bottom of the eighth tied at 2.
But considering the mess started on a two-error play after Nicky Delmonico did his job well, there's no need to be charitable.
Kelvin Herrera opened the inning by giving up a couple of lasers. J.D. Martinez's ended up in Ryan Cordell's glove in right. Rafael Devers' ended up banging off the left-field wall, but Delmonico snagged it on the first bounce and fired it back in to Tim Anderson, forcing Devers to retreat.
Anderson got greedy, and made the ill-advised decision to try getting Devers at first. The throw hopped and Jose Abreu could only get some of it, trickling past him into foul territory. Devers took off for second.
Abreu then tried spinning and throwing, but he lost his balance and his throw ended up in left field. Delmonico wasn't there because he had already been taken back to the warning track, and so Devers went to third, all with one out. That's why the go-ahead run wasn't a hard-luck case
The other six runs were the result of diminishing returns from the White Sox pitching staff.
- Dylan Covey: Professional through 4⅔ innings.
- Aaron Bummer: Four up, four down.
- Jace Fry: Walked two batters and went full on every hitter, but pitched a scoreless seventh.
- Herrera: A mix of hard and soft contact before departing with back stiffness.
- Caleb Frare: Walked in a run on his only four pitches.
- Juan Minaya: Spun a slider inside to Xander Bogaerts and gave up a grand slam.
Indeed, it was a professional affair though seven innings. Covey had a harder time getting weak contact in fair territory as the game advanced into the middle innings, pitching into the fifth and allowing two runs met the more positive end of expectations. He received good defensive support, as Anderson teamed up with Yolmer Sanchez for the first of two nifty 4-6-3 double plays, and Delmonico made a diving catch in left.
Rick Porcello kept the White Sox from stringing together productive plate appearances -- they went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position -- but they got some lift against him in the middle innings as well. Cordell launched a solo shot to center to make it a 2-1 game, and Abreu left the yard to left to tie it up.
That's where the game peaked. In fact, that's where the last three games peaked. The White Sox lost the series 3-1 and were outscored 34-11.
Bullet points:
*Welington Castillo struck out all four times up, and is batting .167 on the season. He did reach on the last one to keep the game alive.
*Anderson and Leury García are 16-for-16 on stolen base attempts this year after they each swiped a bag.
*The White Sox ran out of mound visits.
*The game was the first sellout of the year drawing 36,553.
*The White Sox optioned Adam Engel and Frare to Charlotte after the game:
Record: 14-18 | Box score | Highlights
