Sam Antonacci stepped to the plate in the midst of a cold streak in the top of the 8th inning against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. Sure, the rookie was slashing .310/.403/.500 over his previous 16 games — good for a .903 OPS — but he’d only been hit by pitch once since June 9th.
So when Orioles’ reliever Grant Wolfram drilled Antonacci, the American League HBP leader, to lead off the eighth, it seemed like an omen of good things to come.
Indeed it was. After Miguel Vargas flew out, Colson Montgomery annihilated a 2-2 pitch to deep center to score a hustling Antonacci and give the Sox a 3-2 lead. The floodgates opened after that. Randal Grichuk demonstrated his veteran eye in overturning two pitches before lacing a single up the middle to score Montgomery.
Grant Taylor made quick work of Baltimore to bring the Sox back to the plate for a ninth inning that was more of the same. The Sox opened the frame with four straight hits, including a Jacob Gonzalez single through the right side that plated another two for his second and third RBIs of the game. Kyle Teel poked a squibber past third baseman Blaze Alexander to bring in two more. When the dust settled, the Sox led 8-2 after being deadlocked at two through seven innings.
Not to be lost in the offense showcase — all nine starters recorded a hit — was the fact that the pitching staff dazzled. Pitching away from Rate Field has been a struggle for the Sox this year. Their 5.39 road ERA ranks 29th in the league, but the group held the Orioles to two runs in Monday’s win.
Sean Burke got the start and turned in another strong outing. The right-hander allowed two runs over 5.1 innings, striking out eight. He struggled with control at times, dancing his way out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the third inning with just one run, but his stuff looked excellent. Burke touched 98.9 MPH on the radar gun with his fastball and generated 13 swings-and-misses.
The bullpen kept the Sox in it until the offensive explosion. Chris Murphy finished the sixth after Burke departed, Taylor worked two perfect innings, and Brandon Eisert finished things off by striking out the side in a perfect ninth.
The Sox look to keep rolling Tuesday night and have a chance to take their first road series since May 1-3 in San Diego.
Box Score
Batting:
Pitching:
Scoring Summary
Bottom 1st
- Adley Rutschman hits a sac fly to left field. Gunner Henderson scores. Orioles lead 1-0
Top 3rd
- Jacob Gonzalez doubles to center field. Chase Meidroth scores. Tied 1-1
- Kyle Teel singles to shortstop. Jacob Gonzalez scores. White Sox lead 2-1
Bottom 3rd
- Adley Rutschman hits a sac fly to left field. Blaze Alexander scores. Tied 2-2
Top 8th
- Colson Montgomery doubles to center. Sam Antonacci scores. White Sox lead 3-2
- Randal Grichuk singles to center. Colson Montgomery scores. White Sox lead 4-2
Top 9th
- Jacob Gonzalez singles to center. Tristan Peters and Chase Meidroth score. White Sox lead 6-2
- Kyle Teel reaches on an error. Jacob Gonzalez and Sam Antonacci score. White Sox lead 8-2
Key Performers
Sean Burke (SP): 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
Burke posted his third strong start in a row, batting through some slight command issues to hold the Orioles to two runs. He struck out a season-high eight batters across 5.1 innings thanks to his fastball sitting at 96.1 MPH, a tick-and-a-half faster than usual for the right-hander.
Jacob Gonzalez (1B): 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
While all nine Sox batters picked up a hit, Gonzalez was the only one to record two. His third-inning double tied the game at 1-1, and his ninth-inning single brought in two to give the Sox a 6-2 lead. Gonzalez is now 8-for-17 after snapping his 0-for-28 streak against Cleveland on Thursday.
Chase Meidroth (2B): 1-for-2, 2B, 2 R, 2 BB
A big reason that Gonzalez picked up three RBIs was Meidroth’s ability to reach base. The second baseman scored on both of Gonzalez’s hits and drew a pair of walks in the win. It was Meidroth’s first time drawing more than one free pass in a game since May 15 against the Cubs.
Next Game
The Sox look to turn their win into a winning streak tomorrow at 5:35 CDT. Erick Fedde takes the ball for the Sox against rookie Trey Gibson.
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Featured Photo: @whitesox/X
