The official record will show that Gerrit Cole was a late scratch from this start with hamstring discomfort he experienced during his pregame bullpen session.
The results suggest that the American League Cy Young candidate didn't want to face the bottom of the White Sox order, lest he lose to a lights-out Iván Nova for the second time this season.
Whichever one was more true, Cole made the right call. The White Sox took advantage of the Astros' sudden bullpen game while Nova went the distance once again. In the second game of a doubleheader that was delayed by rain, Nova did everybody a solid, sparing the bullpen with a complete game that needed only a tidy 2 hours and 21 minutes.
Only a Tim Anderson error stood in the way of a Maddux, as he put Aledmys Diaz on second to start the third inning with a wild throw. Diaz came around to score an unearned run on a George Springer single two batters later.
Fortunately, the White Sox had a 3-0 lead at the time, they got the run back an inning later, and Nova didn't allow any other damage. He retired 17 of the last batters he faced, or 16 in a row before Yordan Alvarez singled with two outs in the ninth. Nova then fell behind 3-0 on Carlos Correa, but came back to get a game-ending groundout.
(Fun fact: Nova didn't record his first strikeout until he had two outs in the bottom of the seventh.)
The White Sox offense didn't exactly light up the Astros bullpen in Cole's absence, but it got the job done with a little help from Chris Devenski, who threw the first two innings.
With two outs and two on, Adam Engel lined a single to left that scored James McCann for the game's first run. Up came Ryan Cordell, who hit a weak dribbler down the first base line. Devenski had time to scoop and flip, but he failed at the first part and batted the ball away from himself for a bases-loading error. Ryan Goins then capitalized with a sharp single to center to make it a 3-0 game.
Two innings later, Cordell reached via more legitimate means. With two outs and Yolmer Sánchez on second, he ripped a double to right for another run, making it a 4-1 game. Cordell's hit was the only extra-base hit of the night.
Bullet points:
*Anderson had a game to forget. Along with his 20th error of the season, he was the lone White Sox to go hitless, and was picked off the only time he stood on base.
*Sánchez contributed to Nova's complete game with a sliding stop and throw after ranging to his left on the outfield grass in the first.
Record: 53-65 | Box score | Highlights
