The White Sox finally solved Carlos Carrasco. As a result, they have their first four-game winning streak since last August.
After failing to score in either of its first two cracks at Carrasco, the White Sox scored early, and then they scored early. Manny Bañuelos blew one lead, but he held the other, and the White Sox once again foiled an unfavorable pitching matchup against the Tribe.
Yonder Alonso, the only hitter with a track record of success against Carrasco, led the way. His leadoff double in the second led to a two-run frame, with James McCann singling him to third and Eloy Jiménez driving both home with a two-run double.
After Bañuelos made hash of the third inning but averted true disaster, Alonso did it again. With two outs and Yoan Moncada on first, Alonso turned around a 93-mph fastball on the inside half and belted it out to right for a 4-2 lead.
The Sox never trailed again, and they weren't really threatened, either. They tacked on one more before the Indians' next answer to further set the terms, and they ended up demoralizing the Indians in the late innings of this one.
It's hard to pick a nit with any Bañuelos effort that results in a win. The peripherals weren't pretty, but he contained the issues to the ugly third inning, as well as the solo shot he's required to surrender to Jordan Luplow.
In that third, Bañuelos struggled when the order flipped over, allowing three consecutive batters to reach with one out. Carlos Santana singled two runs home, and Francisco Lindor scored despite a late break because nobody told Yolmer Sánchez to throw home on the relay. Bañuelos was able to absorb the misfortune getting a pair of popouts around an intentional walk to limit the damage.
From then on out, it was largely smooth sailing. Rick Renteria got a little greedy by trying to get a sixth inning out of Bañuelos, and Luplow made him play. After one more single, Renteria lifted Bañuelos with a 1-0 count, which was weird. Evan Marshall got a double play ball on his second pitch of the evening to make it moot. (This game is still a good argument for an opener.)
Only Jace Fry diminished the satisfaction at the end, albeit with an assist from Tim Anderson. Fry went to three balls on four out of six batters while throwing 31 pitches over two-thirds of an inning. Anderson bounced a throw past Jose Abreu on what should've been the 27th out, but Fry didn't attack hitters like he had a seven-run lead. Jose Ruiz came in with the bases loaded and locked up Oscar Mercado with a slider to end it.
As for how the Sox scored their remaining runs:
Fifth inning: Leury García doubled, moved to third on a Moncada groundout and scored on an Abreu sac fly.
Seventh inning: After García led off with a single and Carrasco departed the game after striking out Moncada, Abreu greeted Dan Otero by muscling an inside fastball just over the left-field wall.
Eighth inning: Jiménez flared a single to right, after which he was replaced by Ryan Cordell. Cordell ended up scoring on a Sánchez single after a stop-and-start when Nick Capra decided to test Greg Allen's weak arm on a bobble (it withstood a challenge). Sánchez took second on the throw, stole third without a throw and scored via #WILDPITCHOFFENSE. If that wasn't enough, García came through his third hit and scored on Moncada's opposite-field double.
Bullet points:
*Anderson's tendency to bounce throws can be frustrating, especially when he launches a laser from his knees after a sliding stab on a grounder earlier in the game.
*Lindor robbed Anderson of a single on a diving play up the middle, and Anderson saluted him for it.
*Cordell saved Fry further troubles in the ninth with a fantastic diving catch, so he punched both holes on his pinch runner/defensive replacement card.
*Alonso and García each had three hit games, and you'll never guess which one was caught stealing.
*Moncada came into this one 0-for-12 with 10 strikeouts against Carrasco lifetime, so going 1-for-3 with two strikeouts is a victory.
Record: 27-29 | Box score | Highlights
