After Mariners’ starter James Paxton left early with an injury, the White Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead due to a home run form Zack Collins. However, more defensive blunders from Nick Madrigal and Collins in a long, nightmarish bottom of the 3rd inning gave the Mariners the opportunity to tie the game at 3. Nevertheless, Lucas Giolito and the bullpen bounced back well, and a Luis Robert two-run home run, a Jose Abreu sacrifice fly, and another Abreu grand slam powered Chicago to a 10-4 victory. With the victory, the White Sox jumped back to .500.
W: Lucas Giolito (1-0) | L: Nick Margevicius (0-1)
Savant Leaders
Notable Performances
Luis Robert: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Luis Robert singled, walked, and provided his first home run of the 2021 season. His two-run shot put the White Sox ahead 5-3, and they never looked back.
Lucas Giolito: 5.1 JP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO
While Lucas Giolito had to pitch over some defensive miscues without his best off-speed stuff or typical fastball command, he still struck out 10 batters and salvaged what, at one point, looked like a 3-4 inning outing.
Jose Abreu: 1-for-4, HR, 5 RBI
After hitting a sacrifice fly, Jose Abreu added his second grand slam of the 2021 season and career home run number 200 to put the game out of reach. He is just the fifth White Sox player to hit 200 home runs with the team in his career.
Andrew Vaughn: 1-for-2, 2B, 2 BB
Andrew Vaughn reached base safely three times, but most notably delivered a sharp double to right-center field for his first career MLB hit. Hopefully, the relief of getting his first hit will help Vaughn adjust to the league.
Matchup of the Game
Garrett Crochet faced Dylan Moore in the 6th inning with a runner on 2nd and 2 outs. While the White Sox were leading 6-3, Crochet was having minor command issues, and it felt like a hit for Seattle could make the game’s outcome much less certain. However, Crochet struck Moore out with a terrific fastball, preserving the then three-run lead. The out raised the White Sox win probability from 76% to 82% and featured a great frame from Zack Collins.
Player of the Game
With two extra-base hits and three RBIs, Zack Collins receives his first Player of the Game honors of the series. Luis Robert or Lucas Giolito would also be worthy recipients. However, without Collins’ early offensive efforts, this could have looked like a very different game.
Next Game
The White Sox will go for the series sweep over the Mariners tomorrow afternoon at 3:10 PM CDT on NBC Sports Chicago. Dallas Keuchel and Justin Dunn are the probable starters.
