Lance Lynn turned in a great outing for the South Siders on Thursday night, looking like his 2021 self in six innings of two-run baseball. Both teams did some damage in the first inning, with Andrew Vaughn smacking an opposite-field home run in his first game of the year in the leadoff spot. Anthony Santander countered in the bottom half of the inning, hitting a two-run homer in what was Lynn’s only blemish on the evening.
That represented all the scoring for both teams until the seventh inning, when the White Sox tied the game at two with some good fortune on a fielder’s choice. Jose Abreu made up for some early errors by coming through for the Sox with a clutch two-out single in the top of the eighth inning to put the Sox on top 3-2.
Liam Hendriks ran into some trouble after retiring the first two Orioles with relative ease in the bottom of the ninth inning, allowing the first home run of Baltimore rookie Kyle Stowers‘ career after a rare error by Adam Engel. The Sox were eventually done in at the hands of Anthony Santander in the bottom of the eleventh inning on a walk-off single.
Tony La Russa’s team continued their struggles with runners in scoring position, as they went 2-for-13, including an uninspired 0-for-6 in the 10th and 11th innings.
The injury bug also continued to bite the White Sox tonight, with third-baseman Yoan Moncada leaving the game due to hamstring tightness after making some great plays in the field and going 2-for-2 at the plate. The Sox later announced he is day-to-day – who isn’t at this point?
With the loss, Chicago fell to 63-62 and failed to gain ground with the Guardians losing today, putting them four games back in the division heading into the weekend.
W: Felix Bautista (4-3) | L: Jake Diekman (5-3)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offensive Recap:
Pitching Recap:
White Sox Scoring Recap:
- Top of the 1st: Andrew Vaughn homers to right-center field. CWS 1- BAL 0
- Top of the 7th: Josh Harrison reaches on fielder’s choice. Throwing error by Terrin Vavra. Romy Gonzalez scores. CWS 2- BAL 2
- Top of the 8th: Jose Abreu singles to left field. Gavin Sheets scores. CWS 3- BAL 2
Notable Performances
Lance Lynn: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Lynn was brilliant on Thursday night, turning in six innings of two-run baseball. He punched out eight Orioles, making the young and talented team look foolish at times. The only blemish was a first-inning two-run bomb he allowed to Anthony Santander. He rebounded with five shutout innings the rest of the way, and lowered his ERA to an even 5.00 on the season.
Gavin Sheets: 3-for-5, 2B (17), R
Sheets continued his Baltimore hitting barrage tonight, turning in a three-knock effort. He hit a double in the eighth inning and eventually came around to score the go-ahead run on a Jose Abreu single. Sheets has done just about all he can this week to prove that he belongs in the starting lineup every night when a right-handed pitcher is starting.
Andrew Vaughn: 2-for-4, HR (14), RBI (61)
Vaughn was given a chance in the leadoff spot and ran with it, smacking two extra-base hits for an offense that has been starving for them. He kicked off the game with his 14th home run of the season, smoking a shot to right-center field. The lineup shakeup was a welcome change, and hopefully a sign of things to come for Vaughn during this critical stretch run.
The Next Matchup
The White Sox welcome the Diamondbacks to town on Friday evening, kicking off a huge nine-game homestand. First pitch is at 7:10 PM CT, and can be seen on NBC Sports Chicago.
Fan-favorite Johnny Cueto takes the bump against Tommy Henry.
Follow us @SoxOn35th for more updates throughout the season
Featured Photo: © Jessica Rapfogel-USA TODAY Sports
