The White Sox are only supposed to lose players when they win ballgames. So when two Leury García and José Abreu leave early with injures and the White Sox fall to Detroit by four runs, what are we even doing here?
Another sleepy night from the offense couldn't support a Dallas Keuchel who was a couple of annoying hitters away from a much better outing. Also, the White Sox gave up their second inside-the-park homer of the year to seal this one, and it wasn't Eloy Jiménez.
Keuchel was fine when he didn't have to face Niko Goodrum. The problem was that he was legally required to face Niko Goodrum. The Tigers' leadoff man went 4-for-4 and scored the only two runs Detroit needed. Jeimer Candelario inside-outed a double to score him from second on a two-out double in the fourth, and then Goodrum cranked a solo shot in the sixth.
The White Sox had an answer for the latter, as Danny Mendick battled back from an 0-2 count for the team's first triple of 2020, and came home on Adam Engel's groundout.
But then Engel put two runs on Detroit's tab in the bottom of the inning with the aforementioned inside-the-parker.
Keuchel gave up a triple to start that inning. Rick Renteria came out for a mound visit, but let Keuchel face Victor Reyes. After Reyes deposited Keuchel's first-pitch cutter into right field for an RBI single, Renteria lifted Keuchel for Codi Heuer.
Engel actually saved the Sox a run at one point in this inning, as he cut down Reyes at third on Harold Castro's single. Castro moved up on the out, which changed the calculus two batters later, when JaCoby Jones hit a sinking line drive to center.
Engel made the right decision to break in and try to catch the liner, because letting it bounce in front of him would make it a 4-1 game with two innings to play, and so trying to preserve the two-run deficit won the day. He actually got to the spot, but he just didn't get his glove low enough. He whiffed, and teh ball bounded behind him all the way to the 420-foot marker on the center field wall, and Jones raced the final 270 feet after thinking he was going to be taking the shorter path to Detroit's dugout.
The good news is that it didn't matter, because the White Sox are learning that they can't subsist on a Mendick-only offense. He had three of the White Sox's eight hits out of the eight spot, including their only one for extra bases.
The Sox didn't have a leadoff hitter reach base all night, and the first inning was the only time they had more than one runner aboard. Both are not particularly effective ways to deploy a singles-based attack. Consequently, they had only three at-bats with runners in scoring position, and Engel's was the only one with fewer than two outs.
As for the injuries, García and Abreu both hurt themselves trying to beat out singles. García was successful, but his headfirst dive resulted in a brusied thumb. Abreu wasn't safe, and he jammed his hip landing on the bag awkwardly. Both will be reevaluated on Tuesday, but at least Tim Anderson should be back to resume his shortstop duties.
Bullet points:
*Jiménez snapped an 0-for-22 skid with an infield single.
*Luis Robert was out of the lineup for the first time, but he made an appearance as a pinch hitter and flied out to deepish right.
*Mendick's lone unsuccessful at-bat resulted in an injury for Detroit, as C.J. Cron wrenched his knee trying to stop the one-hopper. It caromed off Cron and to Daniel Norris, who slapped a tag on Mendick with a dive.
*The White Sox only struck out six times, and they didn't ground into a double play, which tells you how boring their offense is.
*Steve Cishek pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, his first scoreless outing in five tries.
