The White Sox entered this game 0-3 in games where they faced Carlos Hernández, but this version of Hernández is, to put it bluntly, awful. He came into this one 0-3 with a 9.11 ERA and 15 walks to 13 strikeouts over 26⅔ innings. The White Sox can't hit right-handed pitching and all, sure, but facing Hernández at this point was having the opportunity in taking a remedial course in how to build innings.
I'm relieved to tell you they passed. They could've won by more, but any game in which they score more than three runs is a blessing, and after grunting out small rallies here and there over the course of the afternoon, Luis Robert was able to land the kill shot, hitting a two-run homer in the eighth inning that cemented the game.
The White Sox battled their worst impulses against Hernández, and they largely emerged victorious. Hernández only lasted three innings, as the White Sox made him throw 77 pitches via five hits and five walks. Tim Anderson did what he could to set the tone, reaching base four times on a pair of walks, then a pair of singles. He also stole bases and drove in two.
Yet all his activity only resulted in one run scored himself, because the hitters behind him took a while to get it going. Robert cashed him in with a two-out single, but the Sox left the bases loaded. An inning later, Anderson came up to the plate after the Sox notched three singles off Hernández to load the bases, and Anderson drove two home himself to narrow KC's lead to 4-3. Again, the Sox stranded the bases loaded when José Abreu struck out and AJ Pollock grounded out.
The Sox threatened to squander another rally in the sixth, but Luis Robert came through with an RBI single after Yoán Moncada struck out with runners on the corners to tie the game at 4. Alas, when Abreu came to the plate with runners on the corners, his blistered ground ball was merely good for a 4-6-3 double play.
An inning later, the Sox pushed across another run despite shaky managerial work by Tony La Russa. After Pollock led off with a single, Gavin Sheets batted for himself against a lefty and struck out. Andrew Vaughn then singled Pollock to third. Adam Engel then entered the game for Reese McGuire and singled home Pollock to give the Sox the lead.
That call was fine, but if McGuire was going to exit, there was no reason why Yasmani Grandal or Engel could've hit for Sheets in the same situation, since Grandal had to play regardless. Then La Russa compounded matters by calling for a hit-and-run with Josh Harrison at the plate, and Engel got hung out to dry on a ball outside the zone for a pointless second out.
Catharsis finally arrived in the eighth, when Moncada, mired in a 1-for-18 slump in the series, lined a single to right. Up came Robert, who clobbered a homer to left to finally give the Sox a cushion. It came in handy when Liam Hendriks gave up a couple singles that brought the tying run to the plate with one out, but Hendriks recorded the save with no actual damage.
Bennett Sousa got the win, as he started the first of four scoreless relief innings by four differnet relievers, even though none of them had a perfect inning. Vince Velasquez was ... fine. He dug a hole early once again, but he figured it out well enough to throw five innings and left with a tie game, and that's basically all anybody should hope for him every time out.
Bullet points:
*The Sox went 5-for-16 with runners in scoring position, and the 16 is the important part.
*Pollock continued to point his arrow upward with a single, walk and a leaping catch at the wall.
*Amir Garrett was ejected in the ninth inning after making his displeasure about a balk call known following the third out.
*Anderson is now hitting .346, but more importantly, his OBP is .386.
*Robert took over the team lead in RBIs with 17 after driving in four.
