It would be a shock if Mike Clevinger opted into his half of the mutual contract option, especially with how he’s pitched since returning from the IL on July 29. With another stellar performance against Washington, Clevinger demonstrates that his quality of stuff pre-2020 has returned. But it wasn’t without a bit of drama late.
While Clevinger was posting zeroes, it took the White Sox offense several times through the order to figure out Washington Nationals starter Joan Adon. Scoreless into the fifth inning with two outs, Tim Anderson sparked a rally with a single to center field. A walk from Andrew Benintendi kept the inning alive for Luis Robert Jr.
Robert showcased his strength on a 0-1 curveball that dropped out of the strike zone. With a flick of the wrist, Robert launched the breaking pitch 398 feet to left-center field for his 36th home run of the season. In a turn of events, Adon was one out away from pitching five scoreless innings, and instead, the Nationals are down 3-0.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez stuck with Adon in the sixth inning, which was a mistake. Yoan Moncada started the inning by hitting his second double of the game. An RBI single from Andrew Vaughn made it 4-0, and Yasmani Grandal joined the party with a single of his own. After Gavin Sheets hit into a 4-6-3 double play that allowed Vaughn to reach third base, Elvis Andrus picked up a two-out RBI with a single to center field.
Then some goofiness from the Nationals. Reliever Jose Ferrer caught Andrus leaning at first base with his pick-off throw. Now caught in a rundown, Andrus was starting to make his way to second base with Nationals first baseman Dominic Smith following. Meanwhile, Ferrer begins to walk off the mound, believing the play would resolve in an out.
The funny thing was that Smith made a throw to second base, which allowed Andrus to make a desperate dash back to first base. That’s where Ferrer should have been to help with the rundown, but all he could do was watch Andrus slide back safely to first base.
Making matters worse for Ferrer, Andrus would come around to score as Anderson and Benintendi singled.
With a pitch count under 100 and up by six runs, Pedro Grifol gave Clevinger a shot at the complete game. With two quick outs, all that was standing between Clevinger and a shutout was Smith. Ahead 1-2, Clevinger threw a high fastball up in the zone that Smith barreled up. A 419-foot solo home run broke up the shutout.
What should have been a meaningless run irked Clevinger. As Smith rounded third base and approached home plate, Clevinger began to bark at him. On television replay, it appeared that Clevinger was pointing to center field bleachers, indicating that Smith may have received some sign that a fastball was coming. Smith took offense to whatever Clevinger was saying and to be held back as the benches cleared.
Eventually, things calmed down enough for Clevinger to finish his complete game by striking out Carter Kieboom. It’s the first complete game from a White Sox starter in 2023 and Clevinger’s first since 2020.
Game Notes
- Tim Anderson went 4-for-5 with all singles
- Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, and Andrew Vaughn had multi-hit games.
- Every starting position player had a base hit
- Mike Clevinger has yet to walk a batter in four September starts while striking out 23 batters
