In a back-and-forth contest between the Tigers and White Sox, and in a game that the White Sox seemed pretty solidly in control of, the Tigers came out victorious after the walk-off single from Javier Baez.
Lucas Giolito started the game and threw four scoreless innings before getting pulled due to abdominal tightness. From there, Kyle Crick, Aaron Bummer, and Liam Hendriks all saw their own form of personal struggles, which ended in losing two late leads – one in the eighth, and another in the ninth after an Andrew Vaughn homer earlier in the inning. The game ended on a wacky play in RF, as AJ Pollock seemed to get himself tripped up near the wall, watching it bounce off the top of the fence before he eventually made a circus “catch” that would be overturned to end the game. If it doesn’t make sense, check the video below – and see if it makes any more sense, which I’m not too sure about just yet.
On the offense, the White Sox continued to hit well against LHP, scoring all four runs against Detroit southpaws. Every batter 1-9 was working the counts early in the game, which led to an early exit for Detroit SP Eduardo Rodriguez, which almost feels like a detriment to the White Sox in hindsight. Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, AJ Pollock, and Andrew Vaughn all turned in RBIs on the afternoon, with Vaughn’s aforementioned homer being the only ball that left the park for the White Sox.
With the loss, the White Sox fall to 0-1, but all eyes turn towards the health of Lucas Giolito more than the result of this game.
W: Gregory Soto (1-0) | L: Liam Hendriks (0-1)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offense Recap:
Pitching Recap:
White Sox Scoring Recap:
Top 1st: Eloy Jimenez singles to CF. Jose Abreu scores. 1-0 White Sox
Top 2nd: AJ Pollock singles to RF. Jake Burger scores. 2-0 White Sox
Top 2nd: Luis Robert doubles to LF. AJ Pollock scores. 3-0 White Sox
Top 9th: Andrew Vaughn homers (1) to LF. 4-3 White Sox
Notable Performances
Lucas Giolito: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
We will have to await further word on the health of Lucas Giolito, though manager Tony La Russa did express some concerns about his health in his postgame press conference. Giolito looked impressive as he settled into today’s game, fighting through early battles with command to look pretty dialed in when he had to be pulled from the game.
AJ Pollock: 3-for-5, RBI
Though the play to end the game was less than ideal from Pollock in right, the new White Sox RF had himself a nice game at the plate. He hit leadoff and went 3-for-5, including an RBI, in the contest.
Kendall Graveman: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Shoutout here to Kendall Graveman, who looked pretty great on the mound today and, if Aaron Bummer continues to struggle, might find himself trading places with Bummer as the eighth inning setup man to Liam Hendriks.
Andrew Vaughn: 1-for-4, HR, RBI
Vaughn may have only had one hit today, but he had four incredibly good-looking at-bats as he looks to build on his rookie season. Vaughn will continue to play an important role in this lineup throughout the season, and we should all look forward to his growth.
Other Game Highlights
The Next Matchup
The White Sox and Tigers will do battle again tomorrow, as Dylan Cease and Casey Mize will each make their first start of the season.
The game will start once again at 12:10 CT and can be viewed on NBC Sports Chicago.
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Featured Image: White Sox / Twitter
