In the opener of this series, the White Sox opened a five-run lead, only to hang on for dear life in the late innings.
Today is what Friday night might've looked like if the White Sox didn't use their top three relievers.
The White Sox blew an eighth-inning lead for the third time on the season, and in spectacular fashion. Rick Renteria used five different relievers in the eighth inning over the course of five batters, and only one of them did his job.
That's slightly unfair to Hector Santiago, who did the heavy lifting in relief of Iván Nova, who once again gave up a ton of hits (10) over not a lot of innings (3⅓). Renteria tried to see if Santiago could get through the eighth, but he started the inning with a single, walk and single, and so Joe McEwing -- making mount visits on Renteria's behalf -- came out for the first of four changes.
- Kelvin Herrera: Gave up a three-run homer to Kyle Lewis on his second pitch.
- Jace Fry: Walked Daniel Vogelbach on four pitches.
- Jimmy Cordero: Struck out Tom Murphy! He did a good job!
- Josh Osich: Came in to face Omar Narvaez and induced a flyout, but then walked Tim Lopes and gave up a single to Mallex Smith that tied the game.
Jose Ruiz then ended it with an assist from Ryan Cordell, who overran Lewis' single and allowed Austin Nola to go from first to third. That prompted the bases-loaded intentional walk, and that set up the unintentional walk-off walk that brought a three-hour, 44-minute slopfest to a merciful end.
This game was supposed to be a triumph, as the White Sox countered a five-run Seattle fourth by setting a season high for runs in an inning by posting an 8-spot in the fifth. After getting steamrolled by Justus Sheffield over the first four innings, they didn't let him get out of the fifth. Adam Engel rocked him for a three-run homer that made it a ballgame, and three straight singles knocked him out of the game. Eloy Jiménez then greeted Brandon Brennan with an infield single that loaded the bases, and Welington Castillo unloaded them with a grand slam to make it 8-5.
The Sox then stretched it to 10-5 in the seventh. Yoan Moncada led off with a single, stole second, then scored on Jiménez's ground-rule double. Jiménez took third on a wild pitch that Tom Murphy cursed to the backstop and scored on Castillo's sac fly.
Bullet points:
*Moncada raised his OPS to .900 with a 3-for-5 day.
*Jiménez also had a three-hit day, and he's a couple points shy of an .800 OPS.
*White Sox pitchers issued 11 walks to nine strikeouts, whereas Mariners pitchers struck out 15 against one walk.
*Built to Spill was excellent. They dropped a cover of "Waterloo Sunset" in the encore before closing with "Carry the Zero."
Record: 65-84 | Box score | Highlights
