Just when you’re sure the letdown is coming, they find a way to keep doing it. After dropping a sleepy one last night, the White Sox were on the verge of dropping another sleepy one in Seattle this evening, trailing 1-0 from the moment the game opened all the way until they had just two outs left in the game. Bryce Miller can only wonder what would have happened had he been allowed to go just a little farther.
I’ll leave you in suspense as to why that might be. And pretend you haven’t already read the
headline.
This is the third night in a row that I’m spending here on the pages of South Side Sox recapping things with you all, so instead of trying to piece it all together into something interesting at the end, I’ll just let you know what I was thinking as this one unfolded, because if there’s one thing I’m great at, it’s using a lot of words to talk about very little. If you want to see how it happened, let it all unfold before your eyes!
Top of the 1st
Bryce Miller came out sitting in the high-90s with his fastball for the second straight outing, and while Sam Antonacci managed to fight some pitches off, the way he took care of Miguel Vargas to end the inning —specifically, the perfectly executed middle-high fastball that Vargas swung under, which is the speciality of Miller’s fastball-dominant arsenal — makes me think we might be in for a long one.
Bottom of the 1st
Anthony Kay threw 35 pitches, which is what happened, although he somehow managed to get away with just a single earned run out of it. I said before the game that the Sox were likely to live and die with Kay tonight, because the bullpen was tapped out and he was going to get his burn no matter what. You can cover three innings between Sean Newcomb and Tyler Davis, and if it’s worth bringing Grant Taylor or Seranthony Domínguez into the fold, then we’re in a pretty good place.
Top of the 2nd
Uh oh, Bryce Miller is completely locked in. He mowed down the first two hitters of the inning and drew a weak fly ball out of Andrew Benintendi. Miller is basically throwing fastballs right down the middle, and because they’re 97 mph and have an absurd amount of rise relative to where hitters think it’s going to be. Not a single one of these pitches has resulted in anything close to good content. Not great, Bob!
Bottom of the 2nd:
Kay walked Cole Young to start the frame before going full against Colt Emerson, and the anxiety is at times visible in his reaction to borderline pitches. Still, like Miller, he’s having some success getting hitters to chase high and hot fastballs, punching out Emerson and Rob Refsnyder with basically the same pitch before getting out of the inning thanks to excellent defense from Chase Meidroth.
Substitute announcer Gordon Beckham’s demeanor has been enjoyable, but he did call the Sox pitcher “Michael Kay” at the end of the inning, which was a little funny.
Top of the 3rd:
Well, a Sox hitter finally managed to not swing underneath a four-seamer at the top of the zone. The only problem is that it was Tristan Peters, who can only inside-out a soft liner to Emerson at shortstop. Miller has faced the minimum through three innings. Fortunately for the Sox, he was only up to 80 pitches or so in his first start, so if they’re lucky, they might still escape this after six innings despite the utter domination.
Bottom of the 3rd
You know, every time I start to have some serious doubts about Kay, the guy bears down and gets through a few innings despite not seeming to have a great feel for location. Josh Naylor keeps running long ass at-bats, and it makes me anxious. Seattle up 1-0 after three is about as good as we can hope for, given how both starters have looked so far.
Top of the 4th
Bryce Miller is perfect through three, which he’s apparently done three times in his career. He’s not perfect through four, as we got our standard government-issue Munetaka Murakami walk, but the Good Guys made no other threats, and things continue to look bleak for the Sox offense.
Beckham let us know that he had a Dungeness crab omelet for breakfast this morning, after enjoying a salmon scramble yesterday. We also got a solid rundown of the different salmon species available for consumption in that part of the Pacific Northwest. I hope to try it someday!
Bottom of the 4th
I don’t know how, but we’re still really in this one! Mariners hitters seem to like what they’re seeing from Kay, as they keep attacking and making pretty solid contact, but all three of them resulted in outs this inning, and he’s somehow still only at 78 pitches through four. I doubt he’ll get through the lineup again unscathed, so I’m going to call my shot here and say that if the Sox don’t score in the 5th, this one’s a wrap.
Top of the 5th
WE ARE THROUGH FIVE INNINGS, AND BRYCE MILLER HAS NOT GIVEN UP A HIT.
Jarred Kelenic does not look like he’s having a good time tonight.
Bottom of the 5th
I really thought it was going to unravel the moment Colt Emerson got to first base after being plunked to lead off the inning, but Kay keeps finding an extra gear with his fastball and putting hitters away when he needs to. We might wind up being lucky that Dan Wilson burned Andrés Muñoz last night in a non-save situation.
Top of the 6th
The Sox are in the hit column! The Tristan Peters Show continues. He’s on second base, but Edgar Quero falls victim to yet another high four-seamer. He just keeps pounding the heart of the plate and the inside corner like he has a patent on them. It’s pretty impressive.
Right after I uploaded that, Sam Antonacci flew out to the warning track, and Miller’s day was done. This is basically the same thing as when the Rays took out Blake Snell in Game 6 of the 2020 World Series. Will the Sox make Dan Wilson pay for his faith in his bullpen? Predictably not. José A. Ferrer is a nasty lefty, and Murakami didn’t stand a chance.
Bottom of the 6th
If Kay can survive this one, I have a gut feeling the offense might still have some juice left yet.
He just struck out Naylor on three pitches, and by the time I finished shotgunning a Miller High Life, he was out of the game. It’s in God’s hands now, and by God, I mean Tyler Davis, whose appearance was prognosticated several paragraphs above.
God loves the White Sox — we’re on to the seventh with the game still at 1-0.
Top of the 7th
Is Luis Castillo pitching out of the bullpen? The Luis Castillo who’s getting paid $24 million because he’s been an All-Star caliber starter for many years? I guess he’s got a six-something ERA this year. He looks like Mason Miller right now. Strike one, strike two, strike three. These guys have no chance.
Bottom of the 7th
We see your Castillo and raise you a Davis! He’s got some zip on his fastball and went undrafted out of Sam Houston and Wichita State. Quite a story!
Top of the 8th
They tried! They really tried! Jarred Kelenic isn’t seeing ghosts anymore. There he is on first base after legging out a deflected single. Now he’s on second base, and Peters is on first! And now they’re all going back to the dugout, because Castillo is still really good at striking everybody out. Three more chances …
Bottom of the 8th
Hey, it’s time for Bryan Hudson to pitch. I like Hudson! Nobody in Chicago knew who he was before the start of April, and now he’s one of the game’s more effective left-handed workhorses. This is why you don’t give decent setup guys a guaranteed $20 million.
Top of the 9th
Here we go, folks. They’re letting Castillo ride, and the Sox have the meat of their order coming up.
Castillo wants nothing to do with Murakami. Boom. Tying run at first.
Vargas at the plate. And there’s a fastball right into his hand. Do NOT love to see that. Nonetheless, first and second, nobody out. Colson Montgomery at the plate. Montgomery whiffs. And now it’s Andrés Muñoz time.
Steal! Steal! Tying run 90 feet away! Meidroth at the plate! Here we go?
HERE WE GO!
Andrew Benintendi? Coming in clutch? Give me another boom!
Bottom of the 9th
It’s Grant Taylor, and not Domínguez. Now THIS is a development. Boom, strike one. Boom, strike two.
Boom, Dominic Canzone strikes out to end the game. Taylor picks up his first save of the season. The White Sox are back to two games over .500. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Tomorrow is a new day, and one that will see Sean Burke take the mound in an effort to make it yet another improbable series victory against Emerson Hancock, who the Sox touched up for five runs when they last met. First pitch is at 3:10 p.m. CT, and we’ll see you there!
