When Martín Maldonado homers, good things happen.
When Martín Maldonado records multiple hits in a game, the White Sox are literally unbeatable.
That's a theory that was only tested once entering tonight, when he went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs in a 9-4 victory over the Rays on April 26, but that sample size is now twice as large, and the White Sox are 2-0 on such occasions.
Maldonado contributed a pair of run-scoring hits to the cause tonight, including a two-run homer in the eighth inning that effectively iced the game. You can't call him the primary reason the White Sox won the game, but he best personified a satisfying, well-rounded effort. Erick Fedde pitched well, the defense stepped up the few times he needed it, and the White Sox strung together one line drive after another off Gavin Williams. Maldonado's contributions -- which raised his average to .096 -- were the icing on the cake.
Fedde picked up his sixth win of the seasons, allowing just one run on three hits and three walks over six innings and 91 pitches. He only ran into significant trouble in one inning, and that's when the gloves stepped up.
He had two on with nobody out in the third after a leadoff double and a walk to José Ramírez. Josh Naylor followed with a smoked grounder to Andrew Vaughn at 109.2 mph, but Vaughn ignored the screen, fielded it cleanly and got the fielder's choice at second, even if a bounced throw interrupted the flow of a 3-6-1 double play. David Fry then lofted a drive out to the right center gap, where it hung up just long enough for Luis Robert Jr. to lay out and slide his glove between the ball and the blades of grass beneath. It still resulted in a sac fly that tied the game at 1, but it cut down the chances of a crooked number, which mattered when the White Sox posted one of their own.
Lenyn Sosa hit one of his signature doubles to the right-center gap off Williams with one out in the fourth, and a parade of hard-hit balls followed. Sosa stutter-stepped his way through a weird Eddie Rodriguez stop sign to score on Nicky Lopez's double over the head of Steven Kwan, and after Danny Mendick struck out, Martín Maldonado also rifled a ball to left, scoring Lopez and giving the Sox a 3-1 lead.
The two-out offense continued when the lineup turned over. Tommy Pham shot a double to right, and then Andrew Benintendi scorched a double over the head of Daniel Schneemann in center for the White Sox's third consecutive 100-mph hit. Maldonado and Pham scored, and the White Sox had all the runs they needed.
The White Sox took nothing for granted and saw this one through to the end. The defense continued plus play, with Danny Mendick taking singles away from Josh Naylor and Andrés Giménez with fine diving stops. Eli Morgan temporarily settled the game down for the Guardians through the fifth and sixth, but the Sox got it going again off Sam Hentges. Robert doubled with one out, and Sosa's third hit of the game -- an overspin single through the middle -- gave the Sox another two-out RBI and a 6-2 lead.
An inning later, Maldonado capped it off. The 8-2 score and Tanner Banks on the mound triggered flashbacks from two years ago, but nothing came of it.
Bullet points:
*Andrew Vaughn opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single off Williams in the first. The White Sox were 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
*All 10 White Sox hitters reached base at least once, as the White Sox added six walks to their 12 hits. Eloy Jiménez drew a pair of free passes as a midgame replacement for Gavin Sheets.
