In what was a disappointing day for the offense, it looked like the White Sox were going to muster up just enough to get a win. After a Leury Garcia RBI single in the game, Adam Eaton hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Sox a 3-2 lead. However, Liam Hendriks gave up a leadoff homer to Carlos Santana in the ninth, and the Royals small-balled their way to a 4-3 victory in the tenth. With the loss, the White Sox fell to 4-5 on the season.
W: Greg Holland (1-1) | L: Garrett Crochet (0-1) | S: Kyle Zimmer (1)
Savant Leaders
Notable Performances
Dylan Cease: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 14 Swinging Strikes
Dylan Cease took another step forward in his quest to help stabilize the back end of the White Sox bullpen, as he registered 14 swinging strikes and six strikeouts in a short afternoon. While he wasn’t able to provide depth to his outing, he once again featured sharp breaking stuff, and more importantly, a fastball with a 33% Whiff Rate. Incredibly positive development from Cease. Next step: lengthen outings.
Michael Kopech: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 7 Swinging Strikes
I mean, what else is there to say about Michael Kopech other than he’s absolutely ridiculous. On the season, he’s thrown 6.1 IP and has regifted 11 strikeouts – a 53.3% strikeout rate.
White Sox’ Offense: 5 H, 8 K, 9 BB, 27 LOB
No, that last number is not a typo. The White Sox did an excellent job getting runners on base. They walked nine times today, and currently have the second-best walk rate in Major League Baseball at 12.7%. If they can continue to do that, they’re going to win a lot of baseball games.
That being said – the entire offense is lumped in here because no one could get the job done on offense today. Multiple players left five runners on base, and the team as a whole left 27. The White Sox are very clearly a good team. However, they’re going to need to capitalize on opportunities far more often than they have.
Matchup of the Game
The matchup here is an interesting one, because there are quite a few that changed the trajectory of this game. However, instead of focusing on that one, I wanted to look at a Dylan Cease/Carlos Santana at-bat from earlier in the game one in which Cease walked Santana.
Why am I choosing to focus on this at-bat? Because, as you’ll see below, Cease didn’t actually walk Santana – pitch #6, which was called ball four, is very clearly a strike. The reason a matchup like this is so important is because when combined with an error by Yoan Moncada in the first inning, Cease had to throw 12 extra pitches due to factors well outside of his control. He was pulled after 90 pitches, and in a season where the White Sox’ bullpen has been tasked early, every one of these situations counts. This at-bat was a microcosm of all the frustration experienced in today’s game by White Sox fans, if we are being honest.
Player of the Game
Hard to give it to anyone other than the guy who made us all feel like the White Sox might sneak this one out. Player of the Game goes to Adam Eaton for his pinch hit home run in the eighth inning.
Next Game
The White Sox’ homestead continues as they welcome Cleveland into town for a four game set. The series will be the White Sox’ first home challenge of the season, as their skills will really be put to the test.
Carlos Rodon will make his second start of the season, as he hopes to follow up on an excellent debut. He will be opposed by Cleveland youngster Tristen McKenzie.
The game will be available on NBC Sports Chicago.
Where was Grandal in Sunday’s game??? There is no way Collins should have been in the lineup unless Grandal is injured. So far, I am not impressed with Larussa’s lineups that he puts on the field nor his batting orders.