After the offensive outburst that provided eleven runs on seventeen hits yesterday, today was a completely different story. The Sox were shut down by Shohei Ohtani and the Halos, and they drop the series in the process. Michael Kopech threw the ball well, but there was no offense to back him up – more of the same for the White Sox.
Like Giolito on Monday night, Kopech had trouble in the early innings. He ran into trouble in the bottom of the first via a leadoff single by Taylor Ward and a double by Mike Trout, falling down 1-0 after just two hitters. Later in that inning Trout came around to score to make it 2-0. Kopech would cruise until the bottom of the sixth when he would give up a two-run homer to Luis Rengifo to put the Angels up 4-0 and knock Kopech out of the ballgame. Reynaldo Lopez came on to get the final two outs in the sixth, Jose Ruiz came on and worked a clean seventh inning, and Kendall Graveman took care of the eighth inning.
The White Sox offense was dormant against reigning American League MVP Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani dispatched the Sox pretty easily, striking out eleven hitters in 5.2 innings of work. The offense went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Other than Jose Abreu going 4-for-4, there was little to speak of on offense – even the lone run scored was on a wild pitch. Six of the White Sox’s seven hits today were singles.
With the loss, the Sox fall to 35-39, and are five and a half games back of first place Minnesota.
W: Shohei Ohtani (7-4) | L: Michael Kopech (2-5) | S: Raisel Iglesias (15)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offensive Recap
Pitching Recap
White Sox Scoring Recap
Top 8th: Luis Robert scores on a wild pitch. 4-1 Angels
Notable Performers
Jose Abreu: 4-for-4
Wasn’t much on the offensive side today, other than Jose Abreu going 4-for-4 with four singles.
Next Matchup
The Sox will have an off day on Thursday, then they will head to San Francisco to take on the Giants. Lance Lynn will take the mound against Alex Cobb in Friday’s series opener. The game will be at 9:05 PM over on NBC Sports Chicago.
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Featured Image: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
