Tim Anderson was the main culprit in the White Sox's miserable defensive series in Cleveland, but José Abreu wasn't far behind. Anderson committed five errors in two games, and while Abreu came away from the series with his fielding percentage intact, he contributed a key scoop not made, and a key line drive not caught.
The change in scenery didn't help. Anderson's struggles continued, and Abreu's no longer fielding 1.000, either.
Anderson and Abreu committed a pair of throwing errors on a Carlos Correa grounder with two outs in the eighth inning. Anderson's allowed the tying run to cross the plate, and Abreu's unnecessarily panicked throw home yielded the go-ahead run.
To cap off the frustration, the White Sox had the tying run on third with one out in the bottom of the ninth after Eloy Jiménez's leadoff double, but despite bringing four batters to the plate against Emilio Pagán, nobody could get him home. Pagán walked AJ Pollock and Andrew Vaughn, but got Reese McGuire to pop out before freezing Jake Burger with a perfect 3-2 fastball on the low-inside corner.
The White Sox have now lost five straight.
Of course, the defense is only half the problem. The White Sox's problems against command-oriented right-handed pitchers also followed them north, as Bailey Ober limited the White Sox offense to an Andrew Vaughn solo shot and four other hits over five innings, with no walks and five strikeouts. Griffin Jax and Tyler Duffey also kept the Sox hitless from the sixth through eighth innings.
Vaughn had nice at-bats all night in his quest for everyday playing time, and Gavin Sheets continued to provide a welcome left-handed antidote with a pair of hits, but the rest of the order was kept in check. Leury García contributed a first-inning single, but then he struck out in his subsequent three trips, and almost contributed another throwing error to the cause.
White Sox pitching was stout enough to mask a couple of mistakes. Michael Kopech rode his riding fastball to five shutout innings, striking out seven against just four baserunners. José Ruiz bolstered his claim to more important situations with a perfect sixth, and while Aaron Bummer contributed his customary senseless walk, he also got a pair of grounders, including one where José Abreu opted against eliminating the lead runner while pursuing a tough 3-6 double play.
But while Kendall Graveman was able to strand Bummer's runner in the seventh, he couldn't keep his own runners off the board in the eighth. He retired the first two batters without incident before Ryan Jeffers roped a hanging slider to the left-center gap for an automatic double. A wild pitch moved Jeffers to third during an plate appearance that resulted in a walk to Luis Arraez.
That brought Carlos Correa to the plate, and on a 1-0 count, he hit a firm, 98-mph grounder toward the hole on the left side. Anderson made a nice effort to glove it, and while it would've been a terrific play had he completed it, he collected the ball with time to get a throw across the diamond.
Except he couldn't find the ears on it, and by the time he did, the throw was even longer. It was also later, and up the first base line. Abreu tried to collect it while holding the bag, but he lost his mitt when Correa's leg knocked it off him.
Abreu's loss of equipment was inconsequential because the tying run already scored, and Arraez was taking third regardless. But maybe Abreu running with both hands bare made him feel like the play was spiraling out of control, and Abreu contributed to the chaos. He collected the ball, whirled around and fired a wide throw home that skipped by McGuire and Graveman, who didn't or couldn't correct for the unanticipated angle in backing up the play.
That's when Arraez broke for home and scored, Correa took second, and two runs scored on the two-error play. Were it one error, it might have only been one run, and given the state of both offenses, they still might be playing.
Bullet points:
*McGuire had blocked an errant throw earlier in the game, as he threw his body between García's wild attempt to turn a double play and the entrance to the Minnesota dugout, saving a base.
*Kopech threw fastballs for 65 of his 83 pitches, and that's where all 10 of his swinging strikes came from. He once again started wobbly, but corrected with extreme prejudice.
*Anderson played in this one because he appealed his one-game suspension for flipping off the crowd in Cleveland. Perhaps he should be persuaded to drop it, even if that would most likely result in another García start. Six errors in three games is ... yikes.
*Pollock went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts in his return to the lineup.
*Tony La Russa told a conflicting tale of urgency with his substitutions. Adam Haseley pinch-ran for Jiménez in the ninth, and Adam Engel entered as a defensive replacement for Gavin Sheets in the sixth, but McGuire hit for himself instead of Yasmani Grandal coming off the bench with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth.
