The White Sox (73-65) rebounded from Monday’s rough loss to the Astros (70-69), defeating Houston behind South Side ace Sean Burke. The righthander earned his eighth win of the season.
Despite getting off to a rocky start in the bottom of the first, Burke battled through his 5 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit while walking three and striking out six. The righty started the game with back-to-back walks. To his credit, Burke battled back from 3-0 to fill the count against Yordan Alvarez, but ultimately
walked him to put two runners on with no outs. To be fair, a walk beats Yordan blasting a home run over the right-field wall, so all things considered, I’ll take it. Burke was able to lock in and induce three consecutive fly outs to get out of the jam. There was one final scare when José Altuve drove a ball to the wall in left, but Sam Antonacci had just enough room to make the catch.
Once Burke put the first inning behind him, he recovered beautifully and did not surrender a hit until the fifth. It would be the first and only hit he allowed. Burke labored early, running the count full five times and needing 49 pitches to complete the first two frames. He did, however, limit the damage and kept the Astros off the scoreboard.
The righty settled in during the third, needing only nine pitches to retire Houston in order. He also froze Alvarez with a 95-mph fastball for his second strikeout of the night. Burke rang up two more in the fourth, preserving the no-hitter a little longer. With one out in the fifth, Taylor Trammell poked a double down the right-field line to finally put Houston in the hit column, but Burke moved right along and recorded the final two outs without incident.
On the other side of the ball, the White Sox scattered a few hits through the first four frames but remained relatively quiet until the fifth. Their recent lack of situational hitting carried into the beginning of this one, and the South Siders made Ronel Blanco look much better than his ERA suggested. Blanco entered with an ERA above 7.00 but stranded five runners and kept the White Sox off the scoreboard. He struck out only three over four innings, while three walks helped drive up his pitch count. Still, he worked through the lineup well enough to keep Houston in the game.
It seemed like the Good Guys might have had something going in the second after Tristan Peters walked and Chase Meidroth ripped a base hit to right, but Peters got a bit too aggressive rounding second and was thrown out at third. The play was close, and although Chicago challenged the call, there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn it.
Colson Montgomery has looked a lot better lately, slashing .280/.400/.600 with two home runs, seven RBIs, five walks and 11 strikeouts over his last seven games (25 at-bats). That improvement carried over into tonight’s game. Although Colson struck out in the first, he smoked a single in the fourth for his first of two hits on the night. Unfortunately, the Sox couldn’t capitalize, as Randal Grichuk sent one deep to right — just not deep enough.
Houston went to the bullpen for the fifth, and with Kai-Wei Teng on the mound, the White Sox bats finally started to wake up. Antonacci must have some sort of magnetic force pulling the ball toward his body because he was hit by a pitch for the 25th time this season. His foot took one for the team, igniting a three-run rally that put the Good Guys on the board. Miguel Vargas walked to reach base for the second time, and once again, Andrew Benintendi came through in the clutch, lining a single down the right-field line to drive in the first run of the game. In the next at-bat, Colson followed Benny’s lead by mashing a double into the right-field corner. The ball stayed just fair, bringing home two more and extending Chicago’s lead to 3-0.
The Good Guys took a scoring break in the sixth, but not for lack of trying. With one out, Chase Meidroth put himself in scoring position with a generously scored double, only to get caught in a rundown on Drew Romo’s ground ball. The good news is that the Sox added two insurance runs in the seventh. Tatsuya Imai issued walks to Munetaka Murakami and Colson, and Grichuk brought both of them home with a double to extend the lead to 5-0.
In addition to Burke’s solid performance, the bullpen was on point. Even with a bit of stress from Jordan Hicks in the eighth, the relievers limited the damage and preserved the lead. Lefthander Bryan Hudson relieved Burke and needed just one pitch to end the sixth, thanks to Antonacci’s diving catch for the final out. Hudson returned for the seventh and worked around a single by Trammell, striking out two in a scoreless frame.
With two outs in the eighth, it looked like Hicks was cruising through his appearance. He struck out Alvarez for the second out, but Isaac Paredes added a bit of chaos by smashing a solo shot over the tall left-field wall, cutting the Sox lead to 5-1. Because Houston has half of a Mickey Mouse ballpark, the home run carried just a .050 xBA and would have left only Daikin Park and — you probably guessed it! — Fenway Park. Hicks walked the next two batters to make things a bit dicey, but he struck out Christian Walker to end the threat. Thankfully, the run proved inconsequential.
Vargas led off the ninth with a single up the middle, reaching base for the third time on the night, but three consecutive Ks shut down the White Sox in their final trip to the plate. Vargas’ on-base streak now stands at 18 games, the second-longest active streak in baseball behind Bryce Harper.
The Ump Show briefly took center stage during Colson’s plate appearance. With a full count, he was called out on a pitch-clock violation despite already being in the batter’s box. The umpire ruled that Colson wasn’t engaged with the pitcher. It didn’t matter much with a four-run lead in the ninth, but that made two questionable calls by a home plate umpire in as many days. Lest we forget Monday’s foul-ball-that-wasn’t involving Anthony Kay.
The lack of additional offense was no problem for Grant Taylor, who needed 14 pitches to navigate a 1-2-3 ninth. He struck out two before ending the game with a ground out, securing Burke’s eighth win of the season.
Although they were better with runners in scoring position Tuesday, the South Siders went just 3-for-10 and stranded 10 runners, leaving at least one aboard in all but two innings. On the bright side, Vargas and even Benintendi continue to produce consistently. Colson also appears to be turning a corner, telling CHSN’s Brooke Fletcher during the postgame show that he is feeling much more confident at the plate and trying to build on that momentum.
Sadly, the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-1, so tonight’s win was much needed to maintain the White Sox’s three-game lead in the AL Central. Our old South Side pal Dylan Cease is scheduled to start for Toronto on Wednesday, and hopefully the Cy Young Award candidate can shut down the Guardians.
The White Sox still trail the Astros, 3-2, in the season series, meaning the South Siders must win the final two games in Houston to secure the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Davis Martin will start for the Good Guys on Wednesday, making his first major league appearance since Aug. 13. The righthander landed on the injured list the following day with a blister on his right middle finger, and the Sox could certainly use a healthy, well-rested Martin for the final month of the season.
MVP
Sean Burke: 5 2/3 IP, H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K, WIN (8-6)
Runners-Up
Colson Montgomery: 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K, 2B
Miguel Vargas: 2-for-4, R, BB
Randal Grichuk: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, K, 2B
Andrew Benintendi: 1-for-5, R, RBI, K
Bryan Hudson: 1 1/3 IP, H, 0 R, 2 K, Hold
Grant Taylor: 1 IP, 0 H, 2 K
Cold Cat
Jordan Hicks: 1 IP, H, R, 2 BB, 2 K, HR
Runners-Up
Munetaka Murakami: 0-for-4, R, BB, 3 K
Tristan Peters: 0-for-3, BB, thrown out at third
