The White Sox picked a very White Sox way to lose to win.
With the game tied at 4 in the top of the seventh, Gregory Santos loaded the bases on three ordinary ground balls, then stranded them with two forces at home and a strikeout.
With the game tied at 4 in the bottom of the seventh, they shook off losing Tim Anderson's leadoff single by pickoff, as Andrew Benintendi bunted his way on, moved to second on Andrew Vaughn's walk, then scored on Eloy Jiménez's single.
And then Billy Hamilton, who pinch-ran for Yasmani Grandal after a leadoff single, padded that lead by scoring from second on a grounder to short.
One could picture this series of events happening against the White Sox more easily than they could envision them happening for them, but such is life. Keynan Middleton pitched around a two-out walk for his first save in nearly two years, which locked in a deserved first career victory for Santos, a long-awaited first series win for the Sox, who now have a three-game winning streak.
Moreover, those three wins are games the White Sox could've lost. A three-run homer by Luis Robert Jr. staked Dylan Cease to a 3-0 lead after one, but Cease turned in a third consecutive mediocre start and actually trailed 4-3 entering the bottom of the fourth. The Sox tied it up that inning, but their bid to take the lead died when Eddie Rodriguez sent Grandal to his death at home plate, when the bases could've been loaded for Vaughn.
Fortunately, the White Sox bullpen's positive regression continued apace. Aaron Bummer, Santos, Kendall Graveman and Middleton threw four scoreless innings between them, with Santos facing the only situation resembling a threat. Like alcohol, weak contact was the cause of and solution to all his problems. The inning could've crumbled when Santos slipped trying to field Jorge Polanco's bunt to load the bases, but a first weak chopper found Anderson, who fired home in one motion, where Grandal caught it on the short hop for the first out. Santos then broke Byron Buxton's bat on a comebacker, which Santos knocked down with his bare hand, recovered, and flipped home for the second out.
Up came Trevor Larnach, and Santos got ahead 0-2. He missed with three non-competitive sinkers to load the count, and that's when he went to his slider for strikes. The first two were elevated, but Larnach could only foul them off. On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Santos finally threw a good one, and Larnach whiffed for an emotional strike three. Santos and Middleton have been the White Sox's best relievers at this point in the season, but both hadn't experienced enough classic jams to understand their resilience. Both succeeded in their toughest tests yet, allowing the Sox to take their next step in a long, long climb out of a deep, deep hole.
Bullet points:
*Cease got 11 of his 14 whiffs on his slider, but zero called strikes. His control was scattershot, leading to four walks and 98 pitches over five innings despite an 11-run first.
*Anderson went 3-for-4 with a walk out of the leadoff spot, and made two nice catches in the field (one leaping, one over-his-shoulder in shallow center). The pickoff was the only blemish, but Benintendi had his back.
*Grandal also had three hits, and he cut down two runners. He nailed Ryan Jeffers at third base to get Cease out of trouble in the fourth inning, and he also "threw out" Willi Castro at second on a stolen base in the sixth inning. Replays showed Elvis Andrus missing with the tag, but Rocco Baldelli lost his challenge reviewing the Jeffers play.
*Robert's homer was his first since April 11.
*Jake Burger left the game after tweaking his oblique in the fourth inning, so those who wanted to see more of Lenyn Sosa may be getting their wish.
