Before tonight’s game, Luis Robert Jr. earned Player of the Week honors for the American League. Thanks to his big weekend against Boston, Robert became the first MLB player in 2023 to reach 20 home runs and 20 doubles while hitting .444/.524/1.111 for the week. Facing left-hander Reid Detmers, Robert continued his torrid pace at the plate by smashing a solo home run in the first inning.
That home run was the White Sox offense for the evening.
Dylan Cease got the start and looked strong out of the gate. He only needed 40 pitches to get through the Los Angeles Angels lineup after three innings. After striking on Mike Trout for a second time on a generous call, Cease fell behind to a 3-1 count against Shohei Ohtani. Trying to jam Ohtani with an inside slider, Cease instead watched his pitch travel 446 feet out to left field for a solo home run.
Cease would end the fourth inning by striking out Brandon Drury and Mike Moustakas, his sixth and seventh punchouts.
The White Sox had a brief rally cooking in the fifth inning when Andrew Vaughn singled and Jake Burger worked a walk. With runners on and no outs, Detmers stepped up his game, striking out Clint Frazier, Elvis Andrus, and Seby Zavala in order. Through five innings, Detmers matched Cease’s strikeout total with seven and only had 71 pitches. The game became a pitcher’s duel.
Matt Thaiss singled off Cease in the fifth inning but was left stranded. In the sixth inning, Cease was masterful, striking out Mickey Moniak, Trout, and Ohtani to reach 10 strikeouts for the game. At 92 pitches, manager Pedro Grifol had to decide how much further he wanted to push Cease.
Starting the seventh inning, Cease got to a 2-2 count against Brandon Drury. Drury hit a grounder into the hole between shortstop and third base off a knuckle curve. Tim Anderson was able to get a glove on it but couldn’t field it with an attempt at a jump throw. The official scorer initially gave Anderson a fielding error but later changed the scoring to an infield single.
Next was Moustakas, and he singled to center field, giving the Angels two baserunners in an inning for the first time against Cease on the night. At 99 pitches, that was enough for Grifol, who called for Joe Kelly to get out of the jam.
The decision paid off as Kelly struck out Taylor Ward on a fastball out of the strike zone and got Thaiss to ground into a 4-6-3 double play. Andrus did an excellent job of ranging to his right and made an underhand toss to Anderson at second. Staying flat-footed, Anderson’s throwing shoulder didn’t display any ill effects as his throw was accurate and timely.
That excellent defensive play made Cease’s final line official at 6.0 IP 5 H 1 ER 0 BB 10 K on 99 pitches. Cease generated 17 whiffs on 45 swings (38% whiff rate) and leaned heavily on his slider, throwing it 48 times.
Detmers had similar numbers as Cease going 7.0 IP 2 H 1 ER 2 BB 10 K on 105 pitches. Out of the 59 swings by White Sox batters, they whiffed 17 times against Detmers (29% whiff rate).
Robert Jr. picked up his second hit of the night with a single to right field in the ninth inning. Unfortunately, Eloy Jimenez would ground into a 4-6-3 double play ending that frame. Then it was the Angels turn with their middle of the order coming up.
Reynaldo Lopez pitched a scoreless eighth inning and was tasked to face Trout starting the ninth inning. On a full count, Lopez tried to fool Trout with a changeup, but the pitch wasn’t competitive, resulting in a walk. Then Grifol returned to the bullpen having Aaron Bummer face Ohtani, who was hitless in his career against the White Sox reliever. Like Lopez, Bummer had a full count against Ohtani, but his sweeper was nowhere near the zone.
Now with back-to-back walks, Bummer was facing some heat. The Angels add more pressure by having Trout and Ohtani go off on a double steal. Bummer spiked a sweeper that bounced away from Yasmani Grandal. If Trout hadn’t slid into third base, he could have easily scored the game-winning run - a good break for the White Sox.
Bummer would strike out Drury for the first out and had Moustakas batting. On a 0-1 count, Bummer once again spiked a sweeper that Grandal could not block. This time the White Sox were not so lucky as Trout raced home plate to score the game-winning run.
Game Notes:
- Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn were the only White Sox batters with a hit
- Dylan Cease’s season ERA is now at 4.04
- Tim Anderson went 0-for-4. In his last 30 games, Anderson is batting .211/.248/.246. He’ll probably bat second tomorrow night.
- White Sox are 11-11 in June
