The White Sox hadn't won any of the last 21 games in which Chris Flexen pitched.
If you know anything about the 2024 White Sox, they won't lose 22 in a row.
The streak hung in the balance until the ninth, but the White Sox exploded for five runs in the final frame, putting a Flexen start to good use for the first time in exactly four months.
Dominic Fletcher came up big on both sides of the ball today, and when he came to the plate with runners on the corners and one out in the ninth after opposite-field singles by Andrew Vaughn and Lenyn Sosa, he sliced a double into the left-field corner to put the White Sox ahead 3-2.
That briefly opened the question of whether Justin Anderson could close out a close game, but a bloop single by Jacob Amaya made it a 4-2 game, and then Zach DeLoach's single through the right side kicked it out of a save situation, with Luis Robert Jr.'s sacrifice fly tacking on the final run.
Anderson gave up a two-out double that ended with Fletcher's throw to second hitting Amaya in the neck, but there was no drama otherwise, and the White Sox avoided the sweep at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox leave the series shaking their heads. Beyond the fact that Flexen's streak ended on their field, they ran themselves out of an opportunity to apply pressure early. Fletcher cut down Jarren Duran by about 25 feet on an ill-advised attempt to score on a one-out Wilyer Abreu double that deflected off Andrew Vaughn and toward the angled wall in foul territory, and then Abreu's attempt to steal third on Flexen was thwarted when Flexen stepped off.
Lee later cut down Trevor Story on an attempted steal of second, so the Red Sox made three outs on the basepaths, and that limited their offense to a pair of solo shots. Connor Wong's posted the game's first run in the second, and Abreu's tied the game in the sixth.
The latter could've been deflating. Flexen wriggled out of trouble in the fifth with a pair of strikeouts to strand runners on second and third, and his offense -- or Boston's defense -- rewarded the effort with a pair of runs that put Flexen ahead. DeLoach reached when Triston Casas couldn't handle his grounder, moved to third on Robert's single, and scored on Andrew Benintendi's groundout to second, which Enmanuel Valdez prevented from being an RBI single due with a diving stop. Nevertheless, Robert still ended up scoring because Greg Weissert made an ill-advised attempt to barehand Korey Lee's chopper to the left side, when Rafael Devers had a far better shot at getting the out.
Flexen lost that lead in five pitches. He survived a warning-track flyout on the first pitch, and Fletcher's diving catch robbed Rafael Devers of extra bases on his second pitch. Flexen then fell behind Abreu 0-2, and when he tried to get back into the count with a low fastball, Abreu socked it well out to right to tie the game at 2.
That's what cost Flexen an opportunity at a personal win, but the White Sox continued to play a sounder brand of baseball than their carmine counterparts to outlast the temporary setback.
Bullet points:
*Robert went 3-for-4 in the second spot, and his sac fly was a 386-foot drive to the triangle in center field.
*Amaya made a great diving stop, quick transfer and strong throw to retire Tyler O'Neill to end the sixth.
*Richard Fitts emerged from his MLB debut with a 0.00 ERA after 5⅔ innings. The two runs he allowed in the sixth were unearned.
*The Red Sox had a chance to pull within three games of the final wild card spot because the Twins lost. Alas.
