Reynaldo López's strong start to the second half will live on, but his bid for a win tonight ended abruptly in the eighth.
After opening the inning with a fastball that grazed Harold Ramirez, López threw hanging sliders to the next two hitters. The first one slipped over the bat of Jorge Alfaro and into the mitt of James McCann for a tipped strike three, but Cesar Puello launched the other one deep into the left-field seats for a game-breaking two-run shot.
And if the blast in the top of the eighth wasn't enough, Puello tormented the Sox in the bottom of the inning with a couple of fine catches. He picked a sinking Adam Engel liner off the turf to start the inning, and just when it looked like Jose Abreu might tie the game with a two-run shot of his own, Puello ended up catching it against the wall in left center to end the inning.
The Sox created another threat against Sergio Romo when Yoan Moncada led off with a single, and McCann contributed one of his own with one out. Alas, A.J. Reed flied out to left and Yolmer Sánchez hit a soft one-hopper to second to end the game.
Zac Gallen picked up his first major league win for his work. The White Sox only mustered two hits against the rookie, but they were able to shape them into a couple of legit scoring opportunities. They just didn't capitalize.
After going hitless the first time through the lineup, Leury Garcia followed a one-out Adam Engel HBP with a grounded single through the left side. Jon Jay advanced both runners with a groundout, after which Jose Abreu was plunked to load the bases.
New cleanup hitter Yoan Moncada worked a 3-0 count, but perhaps attempting to live up to the title, he gave himself the green light. Moncada wanted to jump on a fastball, but he ended up flying out to center.
The Sox didn't get their second hit until the seventh, when Ryan Goins drove a liner over the head of Curtis Granderson in left for a leadoff double. Alas, Gallen struck out James McCann by taking minutes between pitches, struck out A.J. Reed, then got Yolmer Sanchez to line out softly to third.
The White Sox went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The Marlins went 0-for-2.
Gallen struck out nine while allowing just five baserunners over seven innings. The Sox hit a few balls decently, but he didn't yield a triple-digit exit velocity all night. The fastball location worked for him, including his willingness to pitch inside.
López only allowed three, including the two-run shot to Puello. Otherwise, he struck out 10 while allowing just four hits, a walk and the hit batter. He needed just 97 pitches to complete eight innings, throwing 76 for strikes, and and got 21 swinging strikes over that time -- 10 apiece with the fastball and slider. It was lethal combination until the latter flattened out on him in his last inning of work.
Record: 45-54 | Box score | Highlights
