The Sox found yet another way to lose today, as they fall under .500 for the first time in 2022 and lose their 5th game in a row moving their record to 6-7. It’s the same old song and dance. The Sox defense fails late in this one, as this road trip up to this point has been dreadful.
The pitching today was terrific in this game. Michael Kopech had it going today, going 5 innings while only allowing 3 hits, 0 ER, 1 BB, and 7 K’s. Jose Ruiz came on in relief and threw 1 scoreless inning with 1 K. Aaron Bummer came on after and he had a shaky but nice outing. He went 0.2 innings allowing nothing but 1 walk. Then Kendall Graveman came on in the 8th looking to sent it to the ninth to set it up for Liam Hendricks. Kendall Graveman threw the ball well, but he was the recipient of some bad infield defense that cost the White Sox the game. His final line was: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 1 K.
Meanwhile, Andrew Vaughn was all the offense for the Sox. He went 1-for-3 with a homer to straight away center field that went 424 ft. Reese McGuire also had a very nice day all around; he played solid defense behind the plate, and he went 1-for-4 with a double down the left-field line. Leury Garcia was moved up to the #2 spot by manager Tony La Russa, and despite the new place in the order, Garcia went 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts. A.J. Pollock in his return went 0-for-3 today with a walk.
The White Sox defense has been down right horrendous on this road trip – nine errors in the last four games is unacceptable at any level of baseball. Tim Anderson, who was appealing his one game suspension today, committed another error in this one on the same play as Jose Abreu’s errant throw home, which were the deciding factors in this game.
Despite the horrendous defense, the Sox made it close in the top of the 9th. Eloy led it off with a leadoff double, then back to back walks to Vaughn and Pollock had the White Sox with the bases loaded and one out. However, a Reese McGuire pop out and a Jake Burger strikeout sent the White Sox packing.
W: Tyler Duffy (1-2) | L: Kendall Graveman (0-1) | S: Emilio Pagan (2)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offensive Recap:
Pitching Recap:
White Sox Scoring Recap:
Top 5th: Andrew Vaughn homers to CF. 1-0 White Sox
Notable Performances
Michael Kopech: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K’s
Hats off to Michael Kopech, who threw a great game! Kopech relied more heavily on his fastball in this one, registering 10 swing and misses today 83 pitches. He was very effective in this one and deserves to have a W next to his name for this outing. With Kopech, Cease, and Gio set to return soon, it is shaping up to be a pretty solid rotation – and that doesn’t even include Lance Lynn just yet.
Andrew Vaughn: 3 AB, 1 H, 1 RBI
Andrew continues to hit the ball hard on this road trip. This time he squared up a Bailey Ober fastball and deposited it over the CF wall, which at the time looked like all the Sox needed, as it gave the Sox a 1-0 lead.
Reese McGuire: 4 AB, 1 H
Reese McGuire had an all-around solid day today despite what the box score shows. He was great behind the plate today, working hard back there, stealing strikes, and even backing up first base! He also threw someone out today as well to just add to the defensive clinic.
Next Match Up
The Sox will look to snap the 5 game losing skid with Vince Velasquez heading to the mound. The Twins will counter on Saturday afternoon with Dylan Bundy. Game starts at 3:10 PM over on NBC Sports Chicago and FOX Sports.
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