The way the Chicago White Sox were playing, their only victories as of late had come courtesy of whoever beat the Houston Astros and Cleveland Guardians.
But on a night when the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated team legends Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols, it was former Cardinal Randal Grichuk who spoiled the party.
With the White Sox’s season teetering on the brink, Grichuk lifted a two-out, two-strike pitch off closer Riley O’Brien just beyond the outstretched glove of Victor Scott II to give Chicago a dramatic 6-5 comeback victory Saturday night at Busch Stadium.
“I don’t believe in magic, but I hope this turn is the beginning of a good finish, because I never thought that they were going to win this game,” Ozzie Guillen said during CHSN’s Postgame Live.
The win lowered Chicago’s AL Central magic number to 13 with 14 games remaining.
“Derek Shomon preaches to these guys every single day that we play all 27 outs and right to the end,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “I think this game embodied the spirit of this club.”
On the verge of a season-high fifth consecutive loss, Saturday’s game initially looked a lot like so many others for the White Sox in September.
After Sean Newcomb’s strong start — 1.1 innings with four strikeouts — things quickly became familiar.
Struggling right-hander Luis Castillo took the mound and promptly allowed three runs on three hits.
“You’re not here to be the hero,” Guillen said before the game. “You’re here to help us. You need to be a piece to the puzzle.”
Unfortunately, as White Sox fans have quickly come to know, those pieces don’t always fit neatly into the puzzle.
“It was a struggle again,” Venable said. “I don’t think there’s any way around it.”
But for all of Castillo’s pitching woes, other members of the bullpen stepped up on a night when every strike and every out mattered.
Among them was Hagen Smith, who tossed two scoreless innings. Smith’s 0.45 ERA is the third-lowest by a White Sox pitcher — and lowest by a left-hander — through his first 11 career outings since at least 1912, when earned runs became an official statistic.
“We just wanted to win,” Venable said. “I think that we did play well. I’m not saying that it’s a win that we deserved by any means, but I thought it was important that we played well.”
Jordan Hicks (3-2) earned the victory, while Bryan Hudson picked up his eighth save of the season.
At the plate, the Pale Hose managed only five hits but benefited from seven walks and three hit batters.
“That was very exciting,” Venable said. “Regardless of the result, it was a well-played game. When you look at the pitching and what we did at the plate, I thought it was awesome.”
The Sox scored in the fourth and fifth innings to pull even at 4 before rookie Leo Bernal briefly put the Cardinals back in front, 5-4, in the eighth with a home run off reliever Grant Taylor.
Box Score
Hitting
Pitching
Notes
- Winston-Salem Dash clinched a spot in the South Atlantic League Championship series with a two-game sweep of Bowling Green. It’s the first postseason series win since 2012. They will host Game 1 of the championship series vs. Greensboro on Sunday.
- Mike Shirley, the Chicago White Sox Amateur Scouting Director since 2019, has resigned following an internal investigation into allegations of verbal harassment. According to The Athletic, Shirley was alleged to have made inappropriate racial comments and sexist comments about and in front of coworkers.
- The White Sox have been in first place for 91 days this season (every day since 7/4), compared to seven total from 2022-25 (latest on 4/2).
- Sam Antonacci ranks second in MLB with a franchise-record 27 HBP, the most in MLB history by a player in his first 128 career games.
- Chicago’s 76 victories are the most in MLB history by a team following three straight 100-loss seasons and third-most by a team after back-to-back 100-loss campaigns (Elias).
Around the Central
- Detroit 11, Colorado 7
- Minnesota 4, Cleveland 3
- Also of importance: Tampa Bay 3, Houston 2
Next Game
The White Sox play the rubber match of this three-game series in St. Louis with a 1:15 p.m. game at Busch Stadium on Chicago Sports Network. Venable has not set his starting pitcher, while St. Louis will throw RHP Michael McGreevy (6-9, 3.92 ERA). Following the game, the White Sox conclude the trip with three games in Cleveland (9/14-16) before returning home for four vs. Detroit (9/17-20).
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Featured Image: Chicago White Sox / X
