One of the coolest games I've attended was on April 29, 2009. It was between the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates, with Yovani Gallardo making the start. On the mound, Gallardo was brilliant, going eight shutout innings, allowing two one and walking one batter with an impressive 11 strikeouts. Unfortunately for the Brewers offense, they couldn't provide any run support.
That changed in the seventh inning when on an 0-2 pitch, Gallardo crushed a solo home run to left field. Milwaukee would win 1-0, and it was terrific that Gallardo won the game by himself.
Fast forward to tonight, and it was Shohei Ohtani on the mound for Los Angeles. With how the White Sox offense has been hitting against RHP at a .231/.288/.386 clip, Ohtani was set for a big night on the mound. As the MLB home run leader, he was trying to keep his dinger streak alive against the White Sox.
In the first inning, Ohtani rocked Michael Kopech with a deep home run to left field, giving the Angels an early 1-0 lead. I wondered if Ohtani would duplicate Gallardo's achievement as the game headed into the fourth inning. Mike Trout had the night off, which made the Angels lineup less dangerous.
As Kopech battled with control again, Luis Rengifo complicated matters. His liner down the right field line rattled in the corner, which resulted in a standup triple. After Kopech walked Chad Wallach, it was David Fletcher at the plate. Known to be a high-contact hitter, Kopech needed a strikeout or a well-placed grounder to keep Rengifo at third base. Instead, Fletcher hit a grounder hard enough to force Elvis Andrus to make a diving stop. At first, the call was Fletcher reached safely for an infield hit. After an instant replay review, that call was overturned.
But the fielder's choice RBI gave Los Angeles a 2-0 lead. While Kopech struck out Mickey Moniak to end the frame, his pitch count was 91. In his last start against Texas, Kopech was done after four innings at 86 pitches.
Not tonight. Kopech started the fifth inning but didn't record an out when Ohtani singled, and Brandon Drury walked. At 102 pitches, Grifol then made the change, having Touki Toussaint replace Kopech. Facing Mike Moustakas, Toussaint got a grounder hit at Gavin Sheets covering first base to start the 3-6-1 double play. Toussaint would get out of the jam scoreless after striking out Hunter Renfroe.
That made Kopech's outing official, and it wasn't a pretty final line: 4.0 IP 4 H 2 ER 7 BB 3 K. The seven walks from Kopech match Lucas Giolito's total on May 25 against Detroit.
Through the first five innings, the White Sox offense was dormant. Eloy Jimenez doubled but was left stranded. Yasmani Grandal singled but would get doubled off when Jake Burger lined out to Renfroe in right field.
It took until the sixth inning for the White Sox to have multiple base runners on when Andrus walked, and Andrew Benintendi singled. But Tim Anderson struck out looking, and despite some deep foul balls hit, Luis Robert whiffed on Ohtani's splitter ending that threat.
Angels manager Phil Nevin stuck with Ohtani to start the seventh inning, and Eloy Jimenez greeted him with a leadoff single, his second base hit of the game. Jimenez would advance to second base off a wild pitch. Next was Grandal, and after falling behind 0-2, would watch Ohtani's cutters and sweepers sail wide off the plate to draw a walk.
On those pitches, Ohtani was funnily falling off the mound. Angels pitching coach Matt Wise called for the training staff during a mound visit. After a brief conversation, Nevin called for Jacob Webb to relieve Ohtani, who stopped pitching due to a cracked fingernail.
Grifol made his second coach's challenge when Burger hit a grounder to Fletcher at short. It was an excellent defensive play as Fletcher made the diving stop and throw to third base for the force out. The call was upheld, leaving the White Sox with runners on first and second base. Clint Frazier entered the game to pinch run for Grandal and scored the White Sox's first run when Sheets lined a single to right field. Webb eventually got out of the jam when Andrus grounded out.
Back to Ohtani. He stayed in the game, taking over the DH spot, and despite a cracked fingernail, smashed his second home run of the game with a deep fly to center field. His 28th home run of the season made it a 3-1 game. Moustakas would make it 4-1 with an RBI single.
Then things got interesting in the ninth inning. With Carlos Estevez pitching for the Angels, things got dicey for Los Angeles. Jimenez hit his second leadoff double of the night, and this time he scored thanks to Vaughn's RBI single. Now down 4-2, Zach Remillard kept the line moving with a single to center field. Now the go-ahead run was batting for the White Sox.
That was in the form of Jake Burger, and after whiffing on high fastballs, he did manage a grounder at Fletcher, this time was covering second base. But a bobble by Fletcher and Moustakas not covering first base allowed an infield single to load the bases with no outs.
In true White Sox fashion, all hopes were dashed when Seby Zavala struck out, and Andrus grounded into the 5-4-3 double play ending the game.
Game Notes:
- Shohei Ohtani went 3-for-3 with 2 HR and a BB. His final pitching line was 6.1 IP 4 H 1 ER 2 BB 10 K.
- Eloy Jimenez went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and a single
- Andrew Vaughn went 1-for-4 with RBI
- Gavin Sheets went 1-for-3 with RBI
- Tim Anderson went 0-for-4 with 3 K’s. His season OPS is .542. He’ll probably bat second tomorrow.
