This game should’ve been defined by the zero-sum nature of battles on the field.
Triston McKenzie stopped the bleeding in the first inning with a Yasmani Grandal double-play ball, struck out the side to strand a runner on third with nobody out in the fifth as part of a 14-strikeout, zero-walk game against the Sox previously accomplished only by Pedro Martinez and Nolan Ryan.
Reynaldo López threw the 2-2 back-foot slider he wanted to Steven Kwan, only to see Kwan get his hands in and keep the ball fair down the right-field line for a game-tying RBI triple in the seventh. Amed Rosario rolled the next pitch through the left side for the go-ahead single that decided the game, and … fine. That put the Sox on course for another gutting loss at Progressive Field, but that’s players beating players.
Then Tony La Russa made a farce out of the remainder of the inning. He called for Jake Diekman to face José Ramírez, and he ended up walking Ramírez on seven pitches, which is among the better outcomes, especially since the Guardians had consecutive lefties coming up behind him. Diekman got ahead 1-2 on Josh Naylor … only to walk him on eight pitches to load the bases. Andres Gimenez then inside-outed a first pitch sinker through the vacant shortstop position to make it a 5-2 game.
And this is where things get weird.
First, Diekman stayed in to face the right-handed Oscar Gonzalez even though Jimmy Lambert was warm in the bullpen, which seemed like a suboptimal choice given Diekman’s issues, but it’s a choice nevertheless. But Diekman didn’t look the runner on second back and gave up a double steal that opened first base on a 1-2 count, and that set up La Russa’s favorite decision: the intentional walk when one strike away from ending the inning.
That loaded the bases for Nolan Jones, and only when Terry Francona pulled him back for Owen Miller did La Russa go to Lambert. Thanks to Andrew Vaughn making a catch that maxed out his range, La Russa avoided the Trea Turner-Max Muncy fate, and the game remained the final score the rest of the way.
Yet La Russa’s strange machinations continued on the other side of the ball in the eighth, and the game followed his lead. He started the inning by pulling back Seby Zavala for Gavin Sheets, even though the bases empty isn’t the best use for Sheets’ power, and even though it cost the White Sox their DH because Grandal would have to move behind the plate.
Sheets struck out, and AJ Pollock grounded out. Andrew Vaughn came to the plate and worked a full count, but ball four was painful. Trevor Stephan’s fastball hit the sock logo on his sleeve, then ricocheted and hit Vaughn in the mouth. Vaughn took his base with a bloody lip before being lifted after the inning, but he showed some toughness.
Eloy Jiménez then generated some doubts about his. With a bleeding Vaughn on first, Jiménez took an odd step on his first swing against Stephan, then left the game with a twisted knee. Adam Engel took his place and grounded out.
Jason Benetti and Steve Stone openly questioned La Russa during the game, and so did Chuck Garfien and Ozzie Guillen after it. The latter two also teamed up to question Jiménez’s threshold for discomfort, which is how you know things are going well.
Things went well for Lance Lynn, by and large, but he has nothing to show for it. He came within one out of a quality start, limiting the Guardians to a solo shot by Ramírez, four other hits and a walk while striking out six.
He pitched around a couple of shoddy plays, but he also benefited from a plus one. In the first inning, José Abreu cut in front of Josh Harrison on a Ramírez bouncer that forced Lynn into a foot race to first that he wasn’t going to win. In the fourth, Harrison couldn’t catch Naylor’s sinking liner, and Lynn briefly showed some disappointment.
In the sixth, however, Ramírez’s homer was preceded by AJ Pollock gunning down Rosario at second on an ill-fated attempt to stretch a single into a double, with new shortstop Elvis Andrus applying the tag. That at least left him in position to win the game before everything went haywire.
He also should’ve received more support from his offense, but the lineup’s plate discipline eroded against McKenzie.
They did their best and only work in the first inning, when Pollock singled, Jiménez doubled with one out, and Abreu’s infield single brought one run home. Moncada then had a palpable hit that made it 2-0 and put runners on the corners with one out, until Grandal rolled one over to second on a 4-6-3 double play that just about everybody else could have beaten out.
The Sox then proceeded to strike out 13 times over the next six innings, including three strikeouts in the fifth inning after Harrison led off with a double and took third on a wild pitch (the ball rolled into the dugout and Harrison bounded for home, but the rules don’t award the extra base on the ball leaving the field on a pitch for some dumb reason.) Pollock and Vaughn ended the inning by striking out on three pitches apiece.
All in all, McKenzie got 25 swinging strikes on 101 pitches, along with 14 called strikes on his fastball. Grandal took two of them before pounding a breaking ball into the ground, and McKenzie cruised after that.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox struck out 17 times without a walk, every starter struck out, and Adam Engel was the only one of 11 hitters to avoid that fate.
*The Guardians, conversely, earned eight walks and an HBP against 11 strikeouts.
*The White Sox are now 14-24 in series openers, and they fell 3½ games behind Cleveland, and two games behind Minnesota, which won.
