The White Sox (46-35) kicked off the road trip by stomping the Orioles, 8-2, busting a tie wide open with six runs in the final two frames. The bats got the glory late, but this was a pitchers’ duel with Sean Burke and Shane Baz trading blows.
Chicago had Baz sweating early in the first as Miguel Vargas smoked a one-out double, took third on a wild pitch, but Baz wriggled free by retiring Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel. Baltimore wasted no time answering. Gunnar Henderson doubled, moved up on a fly,
and trotted home on the first of two Adley Rutschman sac flies. Orioles up, 1-0.
The South Siders punched right back in the third. Chase Meidroth drew a leadoff walk, and Jacob Gonzalez smoked an RBI double to center, tying the game.
Sam Antonacci’s fly pushed Gonzalez to third, Vargas walked, and swiped second. Colson whiffed, but Teel chopped a single that handcuffed Henderson, letting Gonzalez score. Henderson made up for it by catching Vargas in a rundown, but Chicago still walked away up 2-1.
Burke’s biggest mess came in the bottom half with a single sandwiched between two walks that loaded the bases with nobody out. He bent but didn’t break as he got Taylor Ward to line out while Rutschman cashed in his second sac fly to tie the game. Burke took control from there, and the scoreboard froze at 2-2. The righthander looked as sharp as he has all year, surrendering just two runs on four hits over 5 1/3 innings with eight punchouts and three walks. The fastball had extra juice, sitting 96 mph and touching 98.9, a full tick and a half above his usual. He racked up a 35% CSW, 13 whiffs (eight on the heater), and kept pounding the zone.
Baz matched him pitch for pitch after the third. Braden Montgomery doubled in the fourth but got stranded. In the fifth, Colton Cowser climbed the wall and flat-out robbed Vargas of a go-ahead homer. Highway robbery.
The Good Guys flashed some leather, too. Bottom four, Tristan Peters sprinted to the track and crashed into the center-field wall to steal extra bases from Dylan Beavers.
Burke left with one out in the sixth after a Samuel Basallo single. Chris Murphy came in, walked one, but stranded the runner. Grant Taylor took the baton in the seventh, needed just nine pitches for a clean frame, then came back for the eighth and punched out two more. The bullpen kept the zeros coming, and it was so refreshing.
The offensive dam finally broke for Chicago in the eighth off Grant Wolfram. Antonacci took his 17th plunk of the year (still leading the AL), then scored when Colson ripped a go-ahead double to center. Teel struck out, but Randal Grichuk came in clutch again with an RBI single up the middle. Colson was called out at the plate, but Rutschman actually dropped the ball. SAFE! Sox up 4-2.
Chicago buried the Orioles with a four-spot in the ninth off Yennier Cano. Peters singled, Meidroth doubled, Gonzalez singled, Antonacci doubled in a run, and Teel reached on an error that brought home two more. When the smoke cleared, it was 8-2, Sox.
Brandon Eisert closed it out in the ninth, striking out the side as the hurlers got five straight punchouts to end it. After seven innings of nail-biting, Chicago exploded late, getting that first road win of the week under their belt.
