SOX WIN! LIGHT IT UP! The Sox sweep the Cubs in a brief two-game series.
Lucas Giolito turned in a great start today. He gave up two home runs – one to Nico Horner, and the other to Patrick Wisdom. But other than that, Lucas was stellar. He recorded 10 strikeouts in this one, only allowing 3 hits with 2 walks. He then turned the ball over to Reynaldo Lopez, who recorded the final out in the sixth thanks in part to a great play by Luis Robert. Kendall Graveman threw a scoreless inning in the seventh and was followed by a shaky Aaron Bummer. However, Matt Foster walked a tight rope due to Bummer’s struggles, and ended up working out of a great 8th inning! In the ninth, Liam Hendriks came on for the save for the third day in a row, and shut it down to seal the sweep!
On offense, Jose Abreu got the party started in this one with a solo shot off of Kyle Hendricks in the first. Leury Garcia got Hendricks again in the third with a solo shot of his own. In the fourth, Gavin Sheets came through with a base-hit the other way, scoring Luis Robert. Finally, AJ Pollock delievered the difference-maker blow with a little flare to right center field, which brought home Abreu who represented the fourth run of the ball game for the White Sox.
The White Sox improve to 11-13, and 3-1 in the month of May! Things are looking up!
W: Lucas Giolito (1-1) | L: Kyle Hendricks: (1-3) | S: Liam Hendriks (7)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offensive Recap
Pitching Recap
White Sox Scoring Recap
Top 1st: Jose Abreu homers to LF. White Sox 1-0
Top 3rd: Leury Garcia homer to CF. 3-2 Cubs
Top 4th: Gavin Sheets singles to LF, scoring Luis Robert. 3-3 White Sox
Top 6th: A.J. Pollock singles to RF, scoring Jose Abreu. 4-3 White Sox
Notable Performances
Lucas Giolito: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K’s
Lucas was great tonight. The only two blunders for Lucas were the two homers that came in the same inning. One was a two-run shot to Nico Horner, and the other one was a solo-homer to Patrick Wisdom. Other than that Lucas was outstanding. With this start today this is the 14th time Lucas has had 10+ strikeouts in one game. Lucas threw 64 out of his 101 pitches for strikes in this one with 16 swinging strikes.
Matt Foster: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K
Matt Foster came on in the 8th inning in relief of Aaron Bummer who had a shaky outing and got the Sox out of a jam! Matt got Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki to pop out for the second out of the inning, and got Ian Happ looking to end the threat, and end the inning. Runners were at first and third when Foster entered the game, meaning the Cubs had a 86% chance of scoring – yet Foster shut them down.
Jose Abreu: 4 AB, 2 H, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR
Jose Abreu continues to torment the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He hit yet another homer off of Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks in the first inning to jump start the offense. With his homer in the first that is now 8 career homers at Wrigley Field, also giving him his 16th RBI in 21 career games at Wrigley Field.
Leury Garcia: 4 AB, 1 H, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR
Garcia hit a homer in this one bringing the Sox within 1 run in this one. Hopefully, Garcia can begin to hit a little bit better with his role suiting him better as a utility player.
Gavin Sheets: 4 AB, 1 H, 1 RBI
Sheets with a huge opposite field base-hit in this one tied up the game for the Sox. Sheets has yet to hit for power this season, but he has found ways to remain productive.
A.J. Pollock: 4 AB, 1 H, 1 RBI
Exit velocity doesn’t always guarantee a hit, and A.J couldn’t have thrown it out there any better. Pollock looped it over the head of Nick Madrigal, and gave the Sox a 4-3 lead. This became the decider in this one.
Luis Robert: 3 AB, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB
Luis not only scored a run and had a nice day at the plate, but he saved the game with this catch in the 6th!
Liam Hendriks: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K
Liam came on for the third straight day to seal the win for the Sox, and sealed the sweep. He has recorded a save in 3 straight games! Liam ended it with strikeout of Nico Horner and his signature fist pump!
Next Matchup
After an off day on Thursday, the White Sox will head to Boston to take on the Red Sox in a three game series.
The first game of the series will be played on Friday. Vince Velasquez will take the mound for the Sox, and Nathan Eovaldi will toe the slab for the Red Sox. Game starts at 6:10 PM over on Apple TV+. Make sure to note that the White Sox will not be on NBC Sports Chicago that evening!
Find us @SoxOn35th for more updates throughout the season!
Featured Image: Brandon Anderson / Twitter