The tougher part of the schedule showed up tonight, and the White Sox played tougher. They had some good at-bats, they had some bad at-bats. They made some good pitches, they made some bad ones. But they didn't make the kind of mistakes that plagued the Baltimore series and foreshadowed doom for this month, and being on the positive side of the error ledger allowed somebody to be the hero in the ninth inning.
That somebody was Nicky Delmonico. He came up to the plate with runners on the corners and one out after José Rondón reached on a Rafael Devers error and Yonder Alonso singled him to third. Rick Renteria let him swing away, and after his first hack at a Ryan Brasier slider resulted in a foul ball that just landed in the first-base dugout, he squared up the second one and cleared the better barrier -- the right-center wall -- for a walk-off three-run homer.
It's the second walk-off in as many days for the White Sox, and this one felt honestly earned. They played errorless ball, and while Lucas Giolito only lasted five innings and gave up three runs, it was a respectable showing coming off the injured list, and he kept his team within striking distance all evening.
Giolito got beat up by the talented top of the Boston lineup, as Andrew Benintendi, Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez combined to go 8-for-13 with a homer, a walk and all four runs scored.
However, he didn't let lesser hitters beat him. The rest of the Boston lineup went 0-for-20 on the evening, and the lineup as a whole went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Giolito's fastball had power and his secondary pitches had moments. He rolled a curve to Benintendi for a solo shot, but the other six hits were singles, and most of them on decent pitches. He issued two walks and struck out seven, and threw 64 of 98 pitches for strikes.
David Price had an easier time of it, at least after a first-inning two-run shot by James McCann, but the White Sox found a way to kick him out the door.
Trailing 3-2 in the sixth, Jose Abreu drew a one-out walk. McCann followed with a double to the right-center gap, but Abreu held up a little past halfway to second to make sure it fell, and it wasn't the greatest idea to send him home. Nick Capra tried, and Abreu was cut down at the plate.
The rally didn't die there, though. Yoan Moncada reached on a grounder to the hole after Xander Bogaerts double-clutched, and Rondón came through with the game-tying single by staying down on an 0-1 changeup.
The White Sox bullpen -- the front end of it, with Renteria staying away from his core relievers after a doubleheader the night before -- gave the lead back in the seventh. Josh Osich walked Benintendi on five pitches, and while Evan Marshall got a couple of grounders, one got through the middle for a single that moved Benintendi to third, and another ended up getting past a diving Moncada, allowing Benintendi to score. Anderson backed up Moncada and forced out Betts at second, so at least that stunted the Red Sox rally and allowed one swing to settle it in the ninth.
Bullet points:
*Anderson and Abreu were both held hitless, which is a rare sight these days.
*Aaron Bummer went four-up-four-down as he stakes his claim to the second lefty job.
*Carson Fulmer picked up the win even though he walked half the batters he faced.
*It was 43 degrees and misting all evening, which had a hand in limiting a Boston game to 15,118 fans.
*Alonso had another double-play ball ruled foul by the umpire behind him for the second time this season. However, Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, so CB Bucknor's unusual ruling didn't matter, unlike Angel Hernandez's from April 1.
Record: 14-15 | Box score
