It's not often that a team is happy to get to their opponent's closer, but the White Sox must have been happy to see anybody but Zach Plesac when the ninth inning arrived with the game still scoreless.
The White Sox scored once off Brad Hand in Game 1 of Tuesday's doubleheader, which was the same game the Sox squandered multiple bases-loaded scenarios. Here, they loaded the bases on Hand immediately. Tim Anderson doubled, Yoán Moncada drew a tough walk, and José Abreu stayed alive long enough to take a pitch on the foot.
Up came Yasmani Grandal, and the guy who came through with that RBI single against Hand the day before shot a sac fly to right for the game's first run. The Sox reloaded the bases when Edwin Encarnación's swing clipped Beau Taylor's mitt for catcher interference, and that's when Terry Francona went to the bullpen for Adam Cimber.
The results didn't change. Eloy Jiménez came through with another sac fly for another run. It was hit deep enough for all runners to advance, and that came in handy when Luis Robert shot a single through the middle to make it a 4-0 game.
The insurance runs were appreciated, because Alex Colomé loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth over the course of five batters and 29 pitches. He issued a two-out walk to bring the tying run to the plate, but Domingo Santana chopped out to Anderson at short to end the game.
The Sox avoided the sweet and were lucky to do so. Plesac hogtied the Sox through eight, allowing just three hits while striking out 11. His command was excellent, or at least good enough to utterly mystify a team with below-average discipline. He got a whopping 20 swinging strikes on 98 pitches, including 13 on 32 sliders.
Only one inning constituted a real threat, and that's when Adam Engel doubled to lead off the sixth. But Plesac struck out Anderson, survived a lineout from Moncada, and got Abreu to ground out hard to short over the course of six pitches.
But the Sox were in a position to steal the game despite the incredible struggles over the first eight innings because their good pitchers in 2019 were good at the same time in 2020.
Lucas Giolito shook off his ugly Opening Day with an outing that looked a lot more typical -- lots of fastballs, and a changeup so effective he could get away with lesser command. He threw six innings that weren't as dominant as Plesac's, but scoreless just the same. His jams were tougher, although I suppose that makes the zeroes more impressive.
In the fourth, he faced runners on the corners after a leadoff walk and a Jose Ramirez single. Giolito steadied himself, getting ahead 0-2 with changeups to Francisco Lindor, setting up a high fastball strikeout three pitches later. Up came Carlos Santana, who hit a firm grounder right to Abreu, who teamed up with Anderson for a flawless 3-6-3 double play to end the inning.
That same part of the order posed problems for Giolito in the sixth, loading the bases with two outs on two singles and a four-pitch walk to Lindor. Santana came to the plate once again in position to pounce, but he flied out harmlessly to center on Giolito's last pitch of the game.
The bullpen took it from there. Evan Marshall and Aaron Bummer handled their innings with ease, striking out two apiece in the seventh and eighth. Bummer picked up the win. It wasn't a save situation for Colomé, which is fine since he didn't deserve one anyway.
Bullet points:
*Giolito lowered his ERA by more than 10 runs (17.18 to 6.52).
*Plesac came within one pitch of an immaculate inning, starting the fourth with two three-pitch strikeouts and an 0-2 count to Encarnación. His ninth pitch was outside, and Encarnación made Plesac throw five more pitches before he could say he struck out the side.
*Robert's ninth-inning single means his career-long hitting streak is still literal. He later swiped his first base.
*The Indians were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
*Jiménez went 0-for-3 with the sac fly in his return to the lineup after running into the wall on Sunday. He appeared no worse for the wear in left field.
*Abreu had a nice night at first base. Along with starting the 3-6-3, he smothered an Oscar Mercado chopper over the bag to prevent a double.
*The last catcher interference drawn by the Sox: Zack Collins on Sept. 10, 2019.
