Both teams came out swinging tonight, combining for 25 hits and 18 runs, but the White Sox (69-63) beat up on Jacob deGrom and outlasted the Rangers (66-67), 11-7. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous getting through this one, but this was a huge win for the South Siders coming off a blowout loss, and at the very least they will still hold a 2 1/2-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians.
The South Side offense snapped back to life Tuesday and absolutely dominated deGrom, plating six in the bottom
of the first after batting around, sending Anthony Kay into the second with plenty of run support. It’s clear that deGrom wasn’t on his A game, but the Good Guys were much more selective and patient at the plate, striking out just twice against the righthander while walking five times. It marked the second time in just a few weeks that the veteran walked five batters in an outing.
Things got out of control fairly quickly for the former Cy Young Award winner. Sam Antonacci led off the game with a double, and deGrom subsequently walked Munetaka Murakami to put two aboard for the hot-hitting Miguel Vargas. The Rangers didn’t record an out until Chase Meidroth popped out to first baseman Jake Burger in foul territory with the bases loaded, but the White Sox had already pushed across two runs. Vargas hit a single to left, while a throwing error by Wyatt Langford allowed Antonacci to score and moved Mune to third. Braden Montgomery followed with a line-drive base hit to left that brought home Murakami and made it 2-0.
Speaking of staying hot, Tristan Peters came through in the clutch yet again, mashing a broken-bat double that put two more runs on the scoreboard and stretched the lead to 4-0. With Peters and Colson Montgomery on second and third, Brenton Doyle kept the hit train rolling, singling up the middle to drive in both runners and make it 6-0.
deGrom walked his final two batters to put two aboard in the bottom of the fourth. Although he induced a ground ball, the Rangers couldn’t complete the double play, prompting Skip Schumaker to turn to the bullpen to stop the bleeding. Immediately after Cole Winn replaced him, Colson and Meidroth mashed back-to-back RBI singles to tack on two more insurance runs, both of which were charged to deGrom. The veteran righthander ended his 3 2/3-inning outing with eight runs allowed on six hits, raising his ERA to 4.21.
Lefthander Anthony Kay looked sharp for most of his outing, allowing only one run through the first four frames: a solo homer by Jake Burger to center. But a switch flipped in the top of the fifth, and Kay surrendered three more runs before Jordan Hicks replaced him with two outs. It was a wild sequence after four innings of solid work: Cody Freeman singled, a wild pitch moved him to second, Danny Jansen blasted a two-run homer, and Kay hit Justin Foscue with a pitch. It was the 25th batter Kay has hit this season, the most among major league pitchers.
Kay recorded two big outs by striking out Corey Seager and Brandon Nimmo, though he walked Langford between the two strikeouts, moving Foscue into scoring position. Ezequiel Duran then ripped an RBI single to left, and that was the last straw for Will Venable, who turned to Hicks to shut Texas down. Kay ultimately allowed four runs on six hits — including two home runs — with two walks and four strikeouts, raising his ERA slightly to 4.09. The move to Hicks worked perfectly, as he struck out Burger to end the inning and prevent any additional runs from being charged to Kay.
The good news for the White Sox was that the offense kept rolling, getting two of those three runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Drew Romo walked to lead off the frame, and Antonacci smashed a triple into the right-field corner as the next batter, scoring Romo all the way from first. Although he still should not be part of the White Sox’s future catching plans, Romo has stepped it up offensively over his last seven games, posting a much more respectable .222/.364/.389 slash line with a .753 OPS. Vargas mashed his second hit of the night to drive in Antonacci for the South Siders’ 10th run, restoring their six-run lead at 10-4.
In the blink of an eye, the Rangers offense made things uncomfortable again. After scoring three runs in consecutive innings, Texas had trimmed the lead to 10-7 and put the game within striking distance. Hicks fell apart in the sixth, allowing a pinch-hit single to Joc Pederson before Jansen doubled him home. Justin Foscue then blasted a two-run homer to turn the game into a full-fledged slugfest.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Good Guys answered back. They didn’t get all three runs back, but Peters provided one with a solo bomb — his fourth home run in as many games. Peters has been on a tear lately, slugging .909 over his last seven games with a double and four homers, good for a 1.309 OPS. The homer was Peters’ third hit of the night, leaving him a triple shy of the cycle.
Peters came up once more in the bottom of the eighth with Meidroth on first after his third hit of the night, but former White Sox pitcher Tyler Alexander didn’t want to give him anything to hit. Alexander issued him a four-pitch walk, allowing Peters to reach base for the fifth time in the game.
Both bullpens surrendered three runs after the starters departed, but lefthanders Bryan Hudson and Hagen Smith were able to pick up Hicks over the next three innings. Hudson came in to put out the fire in the sixth, then worked a 1-2-3 seventh to halt the momentum Texas had built. Smith was set to handle the final two innings, and the lefty was excellent in the eighth despite allowing a double to Justin Foscue for his second hit of the night. The Rangers couldn’t build on it, and Smith struck out Seager to end the inning. Foscue’s double was just the second hit Smith had allowed since being called up to the big leagues, showing how nasty he can be when he commands his pitches.
Unfortunately, Smith couldn’t maintain that command and made things a little too interesting in the top of the ninth. He walked three batters to load the bases with two outs, putting the Rangers one swing away from tying the game at 11-11 — and one swing away from potentially giving me a heart attack. Venable wasn’t taking any chances with Smith’s inconsistency, so he called on Grant Taylor to shut things down and record the final out. Taylor did just that. With two pitches, the righty secured his eighth save of the season and a much-needed win for the South Siders.
As of publication, both the Twins and Guardians are losing, so it would be lovely for the White Sox to gain a full game on both teams. The Sox need to keep their heads down, take it one at-bat at a time and play their game. When they play loose like they did tonight, they can do plenty of damage at the plate. It’s time to take care of business, focus on what they can control and show up tomorrow ready to close out the series with a win.
MVP
Tristan Peters: 3-for-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2B, HR in fourth-straight game
Runners-Up
Sam Antonacci: 2-for-4, 3 R, RBI, BB, K, 2B, 3B
Chase Meidroth: 3-dor-5, RBI, K
Miguel Vargas: 2-for-4, R, RBI, BB, K
Brenton Doyle: 2-for-5, 2 RBI, 2 K, SB
Cold Cat
Jordan Hicks: 1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 K, HR
Runners-Up
Anthony Kay: 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HR, WP, HB
Munetaka Murakami: 0-for-4, R, BB, K
Drew Romo: 0-for-4, R, BB, 2 K
