Josh and I jumped into an immediate Sox Machine Live! following this mess while the feelings were fresh, so here's me circling back with a bullet-point recap:
*Dallas Keuchel's ERA rose to 7.78 after giving up six runs over two innings. He gave up a Enrique Hernández's second leadoff homer of the series -- this one on the second pitch. Four of the next five batters also reached safely, and Keuchel needed a pair of strikeouts to escape with the score 3-0.
*Then Trevor Story doubled the gap with a homer that went higher than it did far, dropping into the first row of the seats next to the White Sox bullpen for a three-run shot.
*Andrew Vaughn did what he could to close the gap. He was solely responsible for denying Michael Wacha the win, clearing the bases with a three-run double to the right-field corner in the third inning that halved Boston's lead, and then coming through with a two-run shot in the fifth that made it a 7-5 ballgame.
*Keuchel's short start left the Sox short on pitching, and the White Sox's middle tier relievers mostly delivered. José Ruiz is still seeking his first-month effectiveness, but Reynaldo López's two scoreless innings in Keuchel's wake and Matt Foster's 1-2-3 sixth ultimately limited Boston to one run through four combined frames, which isn't bad.
*But La Russa chose the lesser fork in the road by going with Tanner Banks in the seventh versus somebody like Kendall Graveman or Aaron Bummer, and that's when the game went off the rails. Banks allowed six runs over 1⅔ innings, during which he threw a staggering 60 pitches. Bennett Sousa came in and allowed both of the inherited runners to score because he made a godawful throw in the Clayton Richard/Erik Johnson mold on an otherwise routine comebacker.
*During Banks' debacle, Leury García and José Abreu collided while sliding on a pop foul down the first-base line. García seemed like he would've made a sliding catch had Abreu not knocked it loose.
*Josh Harrison ended up pitching the ninth, and he gave up a two-run homer to Kevin Plawecki.
*The White Sox drew five walks, but they all came in the last two innings, with Matt Barnes issuing four of them over the course of five batters. He threw just nine of 27 pitches for strikes.
*Tim Anderson had three hits to raise his average to .363, and he was surrounded by Adam Engel (2-for-4) and Vaughn (2-for-5). Alas, AJ Pollock was 0-for-5 with a strikeout from the No. 3 spot.
*Jake Burger started a nice 5-4-3 double play, so there's that.
*The Red Sox have five players with 20 RBIs in their lineup. The White Sox have none.
*At four hours and two minutes, this was the longest nine-inning White Sox game of the year.
*Here's the live show, for those who didn't watch.