Dylan Cease needed 66 pitches over the first two innings, walking five batters and loading the bases both times. Unlike other outings, he never found the permanent second wind and departed after just 3⅓ innings.
Once he got out of there, the Sox could enjoy a relatively peaceful and comfortable victory to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Angels.
Credit Josh Osich with bringing order to the proceedings. He picked up the hard-earned win in relief, stranding Cease's runner over two outs in the fourth, then handling the fifth and sixth by himself without issue. Aaron Bummer survived a couple of close calls during two scoreless innings, and Alex Colomé pitched a scoreless ninth to erase the aftertaste from Friday's collapse.
After his most dominant outing to date against Cleveland, Cease reverted to his former self with early command issues. He issued the first of his five outs on four pitches to David Fletcher, bringing Shohei Ohtani to the plate. Fletcher took second on a wild pitch and scored on an Ohtani single (Ohtani took second on the throw because Eloy Jiménez airmailed the cutoff man).
Cease had aan opportunity to get out of the inning relatively unscathed when he struck out Albert Pujols, then got ahead of Kole Calhoun 1-2. But then Calhoun took three straight secondary pitches out of the zone, and Luis Rengifo drew the third walk of the inning to load the bases. Fortunately, Cease struck out Kevan Smith to escape the jam.
The second inning was more of the same except the run. He loaded the bases on two walks and a single through one out, but came back to fan Ohtani and get a lazy flyout from Albert Pujols.
An 11-pitch third -- assisted by a terrific 4-6-3 double play started by Yolmer Sánchez -- temporarily raised hopes, but when Cease was denied a strikeout in the fourth and Michael Hermosillo took advantage of the second life, Joe McEwing didn't press his luck. Cease's day came to a close after 88 pitches and 46 strikes. To put it into context, Osich, Bummer and Colomé only needed 73 pitches the rest of the way.
The Sox offense provided a steadier stream of runs against Johnny Wholestaff. James McCann's weak two-out single through the right side scored Danny Mendick to tie the game in the first, and also chased opener Noe Ramirez from the game before Brad Ausmus intended.
Jose Abreu gave the Sox a lead with his 31st homer of the season, hammering a Jaime Barria changeup some 462 feet to left for a lead the Sox didn't relinquish, and the second of five single tallies.
Danny Mendick followed Abreu in that direction in the fifth inning, although about 115 feet shorter. He stayed down on a 3-1 slider and pulled it into the White Sox bullpen for his first career homer.
An inning later, Yolmer Sánchez recovered from two failed bunt attempts and singled an 0-2 pitch through the middle, scoring Matt Skole. (Joe McEwing eventually got his wish with a bunt in play, as Adam Engel popped his two-strike attempt back to the pitcher.)
And in the seventh, Eloy Jimenez came about a foot short of a homer down the left-field line, which caromed off the top of the wall and back toward the infield. He should've had a triple, but he assumed it was either going to be a home run or foul and had to settle for a double. The lack of hustle ultimately didn't hurt the Sox, as he scored on a Ryan Cordell sac fly three batters later.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox finished a tough 30-game stretch of the schedule 12-18, including a 2-5 showing against the Angels.
*The Sox outhit the Angels 11-5, and also drew five walks, including three by Abreu (one intentional).
*The double-play ball assisted Sox pitchers, as they started three of them from the right side of the infield. Two were a 4-6-3, and one was a 6-5-3.
*Mendick started in Tim Anderson's place and went an Anderson-like 2-for-5.
*Cordell tested the netting with a leaping catch that carried him into the first row and no further.
*The Sox surpassed last season's win total with 19 games to play.
Record: 63-80 | Box score | Highlights
