Well, after a stretch of play that had us checking the calendar to make sure it was actually still February, the White Sox took their second loss. The Cincinnati Reds’ pitching staff effectively cooled off a South Side offense that entered the day with a flashy +20 run differential.
Unlike some of the high-scoring games the Good Guys have played recently, this one actually felt like an MLB contest. Unfortunately, though, it was one where the Sox pitching staff surrendered too many homers, and their
bats went silent when it mattered, as they were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Davis Martin made his Cactus League debut and was decent in his two innings of work. He flew through the first inning on three ground outs before Sal Stewart smoked a leadoff homer in the second. Jordan Hicks took the mound for the third inning, and although he touched 100 mph on the gun, he ultimately unraveled after hanging a fat 88 mph splitter to JJ Bleday that landed over the wall in right field for a two-run homer. Jordan, just a heads-up here for future reference, the splitter actually has to split.
The real story of the afternoon, though, was Jonathan Cannon. The righthander tossed three clean innings, going nine up and nine down. Not a single blemish on the record card. If Cannon can pitch like this on the regular, the front office is going to have some very difficult (and welcome) decisions to make in a few weeks. Jordan Leasure also looked solid for a frame, surviving a 379-foot fly ball to the wall that Tristan Peters tracked down nicely.
The Sox offense ran into a buzzsaw early in Reds’ starter Nick Lodolo, who struck out the side in the first. The Good Guys had a chance in the second with back-to-back singles from Luisangel Acuña and Andrew Benintendi, but Jarred Kelenic and Korey Lee couldn’t drive them in. Munetaka Murakami tried to get things rolling once the Reds took Lodolo out of the game by smacking a single with two outs in the third. Unfortunately, Reds’ pitcher Brock Burke promptly picked him off to end the inning.
There was a bit of a scare early in the game for Acuña. After a single in the fourth, he swiped second but suffered some type of injury to his face. He had to leave the game to get stitches for a cut above his eye. It sounds like he’ll be fine, but it’s a tough way to earn a stolen base.
The offensive highlight of the day belonged to Colson Montgomery, who finally got all of one, obliterating a 94 mph fastball from Lyon Richardson in the fourth. Montgomery’s first homer of the spring had an exit velocity of 104.6 and went 421 feet to right center. Baseball is back!
The South Siders threatened late but couldn’t find the big knock. In the eighth, a walk to Oliver Dunn and yet another base hit by William Bergolla Jr. put two on with one out, but Caden Connor and Mario Camilletti went down quietly to end the threat.
The ninth got interesting when Sam Antonacci led off with a single and caught a massive break. He would’ve been gunned down trying to stretch the base hit into a double, but an interference call on Michael Toglia gifted him the bag. After moving to third on a Dru Baker K in the dirt, Antonacci scored on a Dustin Harris double to center. Unfortunately, that was the end of the line, as Kelenic and Josh Breaux both went down swinging and left the tying run stranded.
The White Sox head “away” tomorrow, although they aren’t going far. They face the Los Angeles Dodgers right back at Camelback Ranch, this time as the road team. First pitch is at 2:05 p.m. CST, and if you’re looking for a reason to tune in, Sean Newcomb gets the start against Tyler Glasnow. Hopefully, the boys’ bats will awaken from today’s desert slumber, but it’s the Dodgers, so maybe keep your expectations in check for a Thursday afternoon in February.
