A strange pitching matchup and a late-inning collapse killed the White Sox after leading for most of the game. Shane Smith tied his strikeout record and kept contact to a minimum, but the bullpen and cold bats couldn’t provide enough support to save the game. The Orioles took control late and never looked back.
To start the contest, Smith gave up back-to-back walks flanked by well-thrown strikeouts. He forced the Orioles to strand their runners after Dylan Beavers went down on swinging strikes, looking
more like his 2025 self. The White Sox were putting the ball in the air, but also right into the gloves of their opponent, for a quick bottom of the frame.
After two quick strikeouts in the second, Smith surrendered a walk, hit Blaze Alexander, and worked up a full count, turning it into a walk to load the bases. Gunnar Henderson battled, fouling off seven pitches, working a full count, and striking out after 12 pitches, stranding all three runners. Smith collected his sixth strikeout in two innings, but had to throw 58 pitches to get there. The South Siders faced the same issue as they did in the first: routine fly balls that were gloved right away for another quick half-inning.
Pete Alonso put the ball in play for the Orioles for the first time in the third inning, but grounded out, giving Smith some reprieve. Samuel Basallo singled, but also hit Smith with a line drive just inside the back of the knee at 108 mph. He stayed in the game and froze the other two batters to end the frame.
With two outs in the bottom of the second, Derek Hill singled, becoming the first baserunner for the White Sox, and Chase Meidroth followed up with a double to put the White Sox on the board first.
Lenyn Sosa followed with a single, plating Meidroth and putting the Good Guys up 2-0 before closing out the inning.
Smith started with two quick ground outs in the fourth, but was losing command. Alexander reached on a fielding error, and Taylor Ward walked, prompting a pitching change. Sean Newcomb entered, and drama ensued. The Orioles challenged an out at first, and New York overturned the call on the field, giving Henderson a single to load the bases. But the Polar Bear himself, Pete Alonso, ended any threat with a ground out.
Basallo picked up a quick walk to start the fifth and made it all the way to third, then home when Ryan Mountcastle grounded out with two outs, making it 2-1. In Chicago’s half, Luisangel Acuña had a one-out single, and Meidroth hit his second of the game, but Sosa ended any threat via a line out to center.
The sixth was quiet on both sides, despite base runners for each team, and a ground-rule double from Colson Montgomery. The seventh was not much different. The Orioles had one hit, and the White Sox were retired in order, still clinging to their one-run lead.
With back-to-back doubles in the eighth, the Orioles tied the ballgame, prompting Will Venable to pull Jordan Hicks. Henderson gave the Birds their first lead of the game with a two-run homer off Chris Murphy. No amount of walks, both in the bottom of the eighth or ninth, would help, and the White Sox fell 4-2, after leading for most of the game.
