Odrisamer Despaigne's bag of tricks worked well enough in his White Sox debut against the Washington Nationals, but the New York Yankees foreshadowed the most likely set of outcomes going forward.
Despaigne allowed seven runs on nine hits and four walks over just 4⅓ innings, and it felt like it could've been worse. He sidestepped danger the first couple innings before hitting a wall in the third, and that was even after James McCann did him the favor of cutting down a leadoff infield single at second on a busted hit-and-run.
Despaigne loaded the bases on a single and two walks after McCann's throw to create his own trouble, which he once again seemed destined to dodge when Clint Frazier flied out to shallow right for the second out.
Five runs scored before he could record the third out. Brett Gardner worked a 3-1 count and smashed a two-run single through the middle. Gio Urshelo followed him with a line drive single of his own to center to make it 3-1, and after Despaigne re-loaded the bases with his third walk of the inning, Austin Romaine shot a single yet one more single through the middle for two more runs and a 5-1 Yankee lead.
Rick Renteria tried to get a fifth inning out of Despaigne, but Romine -- who entered the game batting .196 -- drove in two more with a double to right to put the game out of reach. The Yankees kicked the game further away with single runs off Jose Ruiz, Aaron Bummer and Thyago Vieira. Bummer allowed a solo shot to Cameron Maybin, the first on his tab this year.
The White Sox posted traffic against James Paxton, but they couldn't quite convert. Jose Abreu put the Sox up 1-0 when his line drive to left barely cleared the wall for his 17th homer, but a blown opportunity in the second was more representative of the remainder of the game.
Yoan Moncada drew a walk with one out, followed by Welington Castillo blistering a ball to right center. The ball hit off the wall, but Gardner retrieved the ball back in time to limit Castillo to a single. Castillo ran at half-speed out of the box, and that cost the Sox a run when Yolmer Sánchez's grounder to short resulted in an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play, rather than an RBI fielder's choice. The Yankees piled on five runs in the following inning, and the sold-out crowd at Guaranteed Rate Field never quite got back into it.
Bullet points:
*Castillo was lifted for Yonder Alonso before his second plate appearance, but the Sox said it was lower back tightness, not a benching.
*Moncada also departed with more upper-back troubles, so an injured list stint may be in his future. Jose Rondón replaced him and handled all chances at third, including a juggling effort on a pop-up toward home.
*Eloy Jiménez was briefly humbled, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
*McCann, on the other hand, went 2-for-4 with a solo shot, which revives his monthly numbers.
*Vieira was optioned to Charlotte after the game.
Record: 34-36 | Box score | Highlights
