Major League Baseball is pursuing these random exclusive game partnerships with every streaming platform that will pay them because $$$, but it sure seems weird that the league has a best-in-class cross-device streaming platform that people happily pay for, and instead it goes out and makes the experience worse.
So far this season, I've been able to follow games during baby duties by switching between my phone and laptop until he goes to sleep. With tonight's game limited to Apple TV+, I was basically SOL until I was able to return to the main TV after six innings. That means I missed the first 6½ innings, or basically all the action unless you count Liam Hendriks working a clean inning on 11 pitches for his first easy save, and with the smallest of cushions.
Therefore, a bullet-point recap will have to suffice until I can actually watch the game on my terms:
*Dylan Cease expanded on his first start of the season, throwing the team's longest start of the season at 5⅔ innings. He allowed just three singles and two walks while striking out eight, and there could've been no run on his tab...
*... except Aaron Bummer once again struggled to play to his strengths and allowed an inherited runner to score after two outs, along with one of his own. Granted, Luis Robert should've caught Ji-Man Choi's drive to left center, but his timing near the wall still isn't what he wants it to be, and it rattled around for an RBI double. He then gave up a slashed double inside the bag to Yandy Diaz to make it a one-run game before Mike Zunino lined out.
*Bummer also gave up a leadoff single and a stolen base in the seventh, but worked around it with two strikeouts and a soft lineout. The Diaz double is still the only ground-ball he's induced all season.
*Still, thanks to Bummer's second inning, Kendall Graveman's easy eighth and Liam Hendriks' neat ninth, the White Sox's single tallies in the second, third and fifth innings held up as enough.
*Jake Burger was at the center of it. He got on top of Drew Ramussen's 95 mph fastball just above the zone and tomahawked it out to left for a solo shot that gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead in the third. Two innings later, he stayed down on a Rasmussen slider low and away and slapped it into right field for an RBI single.
*Said single scored Leury García, who finally came through with his first hit of the season in the form of a leadoff double.
*Gavin Sheets scored the first run of the game on #WILDPITCHOFFENSE after reaching on a one-out double and moving to third on a García grounder.
*Cease once again loved his slider as much as his fastball, but his curve got four whiffs on five swings, which is what you want.
*The White Sox didn't draw a walk, but they only struck out six times, for those of us paying attention to that category this series.
