I caught most of today's White Sox game on radio and Gameday while running errands, so here's a bullet-point recap. Feel free to add any key details.
*Michael Kopech made this start on regular rest, as opposed to the two extra days he received before his near-perfect start against the Royals his last time out. You could tell he wasn't as fresh, because he allowed two hits and a walk over seven shutout innings and only struck out nine.
*Kopech started the game with four perfect innings, and after Josh Naylor spoiled the bid with a leadoff single in the fifth, he induced a pair of double-play balls. The Sox made a loose effort on an unsuccessful 6-4-3 attempt, but the 5-4-3 ended the inning to keep Kopech at the minimum.
*Kopech leaned heavily on the fastball, throwing it for 62 of his 92 pitches and 12 of his 16 whiffs. The Guardians couldn't tally one hard-hit ball on it. The slider and changeup shared the second-pitch workload and did the job, although the fastball was so effective there's still no way of knowing if he can pitch backward. This is a good problem.
*The White Sox capitalized on their one opportunity for a big inning, jumping on Cal Quantrill for five runs in the fourth which established the 6-0 lead that remained on the scoreboard the rest of the way.
*Seven consecutive productive plate appearances settled the game. The White Sox loaded the bases with two walks around an Andrew Vaughn single, and a Jake Burger sac fly made it a 2-0 game. They reloaded the bases on Clint Frazier's single (Vaughn didn't get the green light), and all of those runners came home. Two runners scored on a Romy González double to the base of a right-field wall, followed by #WILDPITCHOFFENSE and a Seby Zavala sac fly that made it 6-0.
*It turns out that Tim Anderson's RBI single in the third inning was all Kopech needed. Clint Frazier led off with a walk and stole second, and just when it looked like he'd be stranded there, Anderson shot a single up the middle for the game's first run.
*The Guardians bullpen retired the 15 batters it faced, and Cleveland pitchers retired the final 17 White Sox batters, but the six-run lead made it easy to overlook. The positive way to spin it is that the White Sox went 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left only one on base.
*Frazier capped off his big game by cutting down Andres Gimenez at second base on a strong throw from right field after a single.
*The White Sox have won three consecutive series, and they hadn't been "only" nine games under .500 since April 24. This represents progress.
Record: 21-30 | Box score | Statcast
