Because the White Sox had to use their four best relievers even after seven shutout innings from Lance Lynn in the front end of this doubleheader, Pedro Grifol felt compelled to try Jesse Scholtens against the Toronto lineup for a third time with the White Sox holding a 3-2 lead through four.
History says this isn't a choice that Grifol would normally make. Scholtens came into this game with six extended appearances for the White Sox, and he only faced more than 18 batters in one of them. Even then, he faced just 20 Tigers, even though Grifol could've taken the risk to have him complete five.
But with Gregory Santos, Kendall Graveman, Reynaldo López and Aaron Bummer all (presumedly) unavailable for the nightcap, Grifol had Keynan Middleton and a bunch of low-leverage options, and it wouldn't make much sense to use Middleton with four more innings left to cover.
So Grifol gave Scholtens a shot, and he gave up singles to George Springer, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to tie the game at 3. The hits were the ninth, 10th and 11th allowed by Scholtens on the evening, and that's when Grifol came out to try somebody else.
Because Bryan Shaw stopped the bleeding with a double play and a groundout, this isn't the reason the White Sox lost this game, just like they didn't lose this game because Eddie Rodríguez made an ill-advised send of Seby Zavala all the way from first on an Andrew Benintendi double with nobody out in the third. But it reflects the ultra-slim margin for error the White Sox work with these days, when they're down to three healthy starters and bullpen availability is trending in the wrong direction, too.
The non-Scholtens options faltered, too. After Zavala successfully crossed the plate after a one-out double on a run-scoring double play by Tim Anderson to help the White Sox regain the lead, Shaw gave it right back on Whit Merrifield's second homer of the game. Nick Padilla handled the seventh and gave up a single to Bichette, followed by a run-scoring double that put the Blue Jays ahead 5-4.
Really, the game probably shouldn't have been as close as it was, given the Sox were outhit 16-9. You can credit the White Sox's less-secure pitchers for throwing strikes, because they didn't issue a walk, and the Sox played sound defense behind them to eliminate some traffic. They turned two conventional double plays, Oscar Colás cut down Matt Chapman at third base on a tag-up attempt, and Zavala ran up to handle a throw from the outfield to catch Guerrero too far off second base.
But if you count a run-scoring double play as something closer to a missed opportunity, then the White Sox only had one successful flurry all night, and even that involved the out at home. Fortunately, Benintendi took third on the throw home, which lured the infield in on Anderson's single through the left side, and Eloy Jiménez flipped a Yusei Kikuchi curveball over the right-field wall for a 3-1 lead after three.
That still left six innings to cover, and the Sox were outscored 4-1 over those.
Bullet points:
*The Blue Jays ran the table on the White Sox, finishing the season series 6-0.
*The White Sox fell to a season-worst 15 games under .500.
*Neither team drew a walk.
*Nate Pearson picked up his first career save, recording four outs on 11 pitches. He needed just four pitches to get the final three outs. Every ball put in play was over the middle of the zone, but they only resulted in three well-hit balls, each one a little closer to the warning track.
